


The Anti-Uncle

by Mama_Qwerty



Category: Fairly OddParents
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4132654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mama_Qwerty/pseuds/Mama_Qwerty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Anti-Cosmo kidnaps 6 year-old Tabby, her fairies understandably freak out. But did he take her just to cause trouble, or is there a darker, more sinister reason?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings again, dear readers! Here's a popular tale that still gets a bunch of hits on FFnet. (I posted it there under "qwerty-kitties".)
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ready or not, here I come!” Cosmo called out as he uncovered his eyes. Silence greeted him from the rest of the house and he frowned. They were playing hide-and-seek and he was ‘it’. He hated being ‘it’. That meant he had to be all by himself as he searched through the whole big house—a house just chock full of hiding spaces—for the girls. Oh well. At least he only had to find Wanda and Tabby.

The little green haired fairy checked beneath the kitchen table and inside the pantry as he floated around the kitchen. Finding neither his wife nor his godchild, he next checked the living room, then the dining room. As he was about to check the bathroom, a faint giggle floated downstairs. He smiled.

“Aha!” he whispered as he headed upstairs. “Gotcha Tabby!"

Still smiling, Cosmo topped the stairs and turned into the main hallway, where he discovered his goddaughter standing out in the open, looking up toward the ceiling. Cosmo uttered a short laugh.

“Found ya!” he said, tickling her from behind. “Boy, Tabby the middle of the hallway isn’t a very good hiding spot. I found you easy!” When she didn’t respond, he floated in front of her and looked at her questioningly. “Tabby?” Still puzzled, Cosmo turned and followed her gaze. “What are you—“

The thought and the question ended abruptly as Cosmo gasped and jerked back, knocking his goddaughter over in the process and landing on top of her.

“Wh-What are YOU doing here??” he stammered nervously, and vaguely wished he had found Wanda first. The newcomer smiled stiffly.

“Cosmo, my dim-witted counterpart, how are you?” Anti-Cosmo cheerfully called in his prim and proper English accent. His green haired double smiled weakly.

“Oh, you know,” Cosmo said with a shaky laugh. “Uh, fine. H-How’re you? That new fagiggly gland working okay for ya?” His dark doppelganger waved a dismissive hand.

“Oh, quite well,” Anti-Cosmo replied, floating lower to properly face Cosmo. His face contorted into a wider smile as he tried to exude friendliness. “Although it does tend to act up every now and then, causing me to be good and do something nice for someone. It can be quite bothersome, really!”

Cosmo laughed weakly. “Oh, that’s too bad.”

“Yes, it most certainly is,” the dark fairy said as he reached a hand out toward Cosmo, who flinched slightly. “Please, allow me to assist you to your feet.”

Cosmo looked back and forth between the hand offered to him and the face of his duplicate. Anti-Cosmo was actually smiling, an action that must have been causing him quite a bit of pain by the look of it, and the question of ‘why he was there’ fell by the wayside as ‘why was he trying to be nice’ replaced it.

Anti-Cosmo’s face felt so foreign to him, being twisted into such an unnatural shape as a smile. He ground his teeth as he wondered just how much longer he could hold it, and why in the bloody blue blazes his idiotic double was simply staring at him like that. Sure it was a shock to see an anti fairy—not to mention an evil genius such as himself—offering to help someone up, but please. This was COSMO. Exactly how long did it take for him to forget his suspicions and actually move?

When another few seconds passed and Cosmo still hadn’t moved, Anti-Cosmo had all but decided to grab for his wand and turn the twit into a cockroach—one he would take great pleasure in grinding into the carpeting—until the green haired fairy slowly reached forward with a shaky hand.

“Well, oka—“

“You’re heavy! Get off!” Tabby cried angrily, giving her godfather a hard shove. He flew forward and smacked into Anti-Cosmo, who gave a startled cry as they both tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap.

“OOF!” the dark fairy uttered as Cosmo squirmed on top of him. “She’s right! You ARE heavy!”

“I’m sorry!” Cosmo cried, trying to untangle himself. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Cosmo, you ignorant boob! I’m not here to kill you!” With a strained cry, Anti-Cosmo pushed his twin off of him and took to the air once more. “There,” he said as he straightened his jacket. “That’s so much better.” Cosmo also resumed floating, and offered Anti-Cosmo a questioning glance.

“So, if you’re not here to kill me, then why ARE you here?” he asked, his earlier nervous fear forgotten.

Anti-Cosmo paused, and calmly removed his monocle to polish it gently with a cloth from his pocket. He could feel two sets of eyes watching him, but felt no urge to hurry. Evil geniuses, after all, lived by their own timetable.

“He looks like you,” Tabby said suddenly before Anti-Cosmo could open his mouth. Cosmo turned to his goddaughter with a sharp jerk, and the dark fairy noticed with an amused smile that his simple counterpart had apparently forgotten the girl was even there.

“Tabby!” Cosmo cried, a hand clutching his chest dramatically. “Jeez! You scared me! How long have you been there?” The girl rolled her eyes and Anti-Cosmo had to chuckle to himself. Even a child of 6 tired of Cosmo’s idiocy.

“I was here when you got here, remember?” she asked, hands on hips. “How come he looks like you? But . . . different?”

“That’s AC,” her godfather said, waving a hand in the dark fairy’s direction. “He’s just like me, but exactly the opposite!” His goddaughter gave him a confused glance.

“Opposite?”

“Uh huh,” Cosmo said, his long bangs bouncing excitedly as he nodded. “That means he’s smart, and he washes behind his ears, and eats all his vegetables!”

“EWWW!” goddaughter and godfather exclaimed together as Anti-Cosmo sighed and replaced his monocle. Cosmo was apparently a bad influence on the girl.

“All right, yes, ewww,” Anti-Cosmo said with an eye roll as he floated toward the two. “What Cosmo is trying to say, my dear, is that I am his exact counterpart. The Yang to his Yin, the dark to his light.” They both stared at him, confused. He sighed. “He’s good, I’m bad.” Understanding flooded their features, but hers quickly filled with worry.

“Bad?” she whispered, moving behind her godfather. Cosmo quickly whirled around and assumed a menacing stance.

“That’s right, Tabby!” he said in a low voice. “He’s bad, and if you don’t watch out, he’ll fly inside your head and lay eggs in your brain!” He followed this warning up with a maniacal laugh as the girl covered her ears and whimpered.

“I don’t want eggs in my brain!” she cried as tears leaked from her eyes. Anti-Cosmo reached forward and slapped his double on the back of the head before he knew he was moving.

“Cosmo, you’re frightening the poor girl!” Anti-Cosmo hissed as he flew before the child. She stayed where she was but watched him with large, scared eyes. “Don’t be alarmed my dear, I shan’t harm you. I’m merely here to see what lovely child my counterpart has been given the good fortune of godparenting!” Tabby slowly dropped her hands, her brow creasing slightly.

“Really?” she and her godfather asked together. Anti-Cosmo nodded, a pleasant smile upon his lips. As long as Cosmo kept quiet and offered no further distractions, he would have this child trusting him completely in another two minutes.

“Certainly,” he said soothingly. “Tabitha, is it?” She nodded slowly. “Well, it is a great pleasure to meet you. I’m . . . well, you could say I’m like your godfather’s brother!”

“Brother?” the little girl asked as Cosmo’s face lit up.

“Hey, that’s right!” he cried with a wide smile on his face, and threw his arms around his newfound ‘brother’. “You ARE kinda like my brother! Yay! I have a brother! Wait ‘til Mama finds out!”

The little girl looked back and forth between the two Cosmo’s not quite sure what to make of things. The darker fairy sure looked like her godfather, even if he was all dark blue and had little bat wings instead of soft, shimmery wings like Cosmo. And he had a little bowler hat instead of a crown and wore a monocle. He talked funny and had little pointy teeth, and didn’t seem to have a wand like her godfather, either, at least not that Tabby could see. But, his eyes were the same shade of green as Cosmo’s and her godfather seemed comfortable with him now, so Tabby supposed he mustn’t be too bad. They were even hugging!

“Yes, yes,” Anti-Cosmo said as he attempted to pry the green haired fairy from around his neck. “It’s all wonderfully delightful, now will you please . . . if you could just . . . COSMO THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Cosmo immediately released his ‘brother’ and jumped back, a blush working its way across his cheeks.

“Sorry,” Cosmo said quietly, a shy smile curling his lips.

“Oh, it’s quite all right, my colorful counterpart. Quite all right indeed,” the dark fairy said lightly as he floated down to the girl again. “Now then, allow me to properly introduce myself, my dear. I am Anti-Cosmo, and I’m very pleased to meet you.” He bent into a slight bow and the girl giggled.

“Auntie Cosmo?” she said, covering her mouth with her hands as she giggled again. “But you’re a boy!”

For a second, Anti-Cosmo didn’t know what she was talking about. He straightened, his face twisted by confusion. Tabby merely stared back at him, an amused smile on her lips.

“OH!” he cried suddenly, finally comprehending the miscommunication. “No, no, dear, not ON-TEE, ANT-EYE. It means ‘opposite’.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, letting his explanation sink in. “ANT-EYE.” The dark fairy nodded.

“Correct.” Tabby frowned.

“But HE’S Cosmo!” she cried, pointing to her green haired godfather. “You can’t be Cosmo too!”

“Oh, crumpets,” Anti-Cosmo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with a finger and thumb. A headache was forming, he could feel it. Cosmo smiled and looked at his goddaughter.

“Just call him Uncle AC,” he told her, much to Anti-Cosmo’s surprise. It was a decidedly familial term, and the dark fairy was unsure how to react to it.

“Yes, eh, th-that will do nicely,” he stammered, his trademark calm suddenly thrown askew. “U-uncle AC.”

“Uncle Acie!” Tabby cried happily and threw her arms around her new ‘uncle’ in a tight hug.

Seconds passed, and Anti-Cosmo could do nothing but stare down at the little girl hugging him. Why wasn’t Cosmo stopping her? A quick glance gave him his answer, as Cosmo munched noisily on a cheese sandwich he must have conjured up for himself. He glanced at Anti-Cosmo and smiled, revealing teeth with little bits of toasted bread stuck between them. The dark fairy curled his lip in disgust, and Cosmo shrugged, his attention quickly returning to the sandwich.

Anti-Cosmo eventually managed to pull an arm free and patted Tabby on the head, a crooked smile curling his lips. Things were going better than he had hoped, but it was time to move things long. He worried that Wanda would appear at any moment, probably forcibly ejecting him from the house immediately afterward.

“Yes, yes, Uncle AC,” he said as the girl released him enough to look up at him. “There now, we’re all friends, right? Of course we are! How would you like to come and visit with your dear old uncle for a while, Tabitha? We’ll have oodles of fun!” She looked unsure for a moment, and glanced back at her godfather, who was busy finishing off the last of his sandwich.

“Daddy-Cosmo?” she called nervously. He glanced up at his name and frowned. Although he may not have been paying much attention to the two of them the past few minutes, he knew his goddaughter and didn’t like the look on Tabby’s face. He flew forward, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Hey, what’s going on here!” he said, taking Tabby’s arm and pulling her toward him. “Leggo!” Anti-Cosmo held fast to the girl’s other arm and pulled her back.

“Really, Cosmo old bean! I dare say you’re overreacting! I merely asked if the darling child would like to visit with her devoted uncle!”

“Who you calling a bean?!” Cosmo yelled back as he yanked Tabby toward him again. “And she doesn’t look like she really wants to go with you!”

“Perhaps she DOES and she was simply asking for your permission to go!” Anti-Cosmo countered, pulling the girl his way.

“How do YOU know??” Another yank in Cosmo’s direction.

“Perhaps we should ask Tabitha what SHE would like, hmm?” The dark fairy moved close to the child and offered her the warmest smile he could muster, which was about as warm as Antarctica. But she smiled back—however weak—so it did the trick. “Tabitha, my dear, would you like to visit with me for a while?”

“Tabby, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to!” Cosmo told her, accidentally tightening his grip on her arm in his panic. Things were going very wrong, very quickly, and he had never wished that Wanda were around more than he did at that moment. Tabby winced at his iron grip.

“OW! Cosmo, let GO!” she cried, and Cosmo immediately released her, his face a mask of worry at hurting her. Unfortunately, letting go allowed Anti-Cosmo to pull her into his arms entirely, and he smiled as he pulled out a black wand.

“Ha HA!” he laughed as the wand glowed slightly. “She said GO, so we GO! Ta ta!” And before Cosmo could make a move, Anti-Cosmo and Tabby disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

Cosmo stared at the spot they had been for a minute before he began to shake violently.

“Oohhh, I’m in so much trouble . . .” he whimpered, slowly floating backwards out of the hallway. “I think I should find a good place to hide for a while . . .”

“Cosmo?” an annoyed voice called from directly behind him. He cried out and spun around to see his wife glaring at him.

“Oh, h-hey, honey,” he stammered, offering her a weak smile. She raised an eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips.

“What are you doing?” she asked impatiently. “We were playing a game, remember? You’re supposed to find Tabby and me. I’ve been hiding in the bedroom closet for nearly 20 minutes!”

“Oh, uhh, I found Tabby and . . .” Sweat began to bead on his forehead. ‘And’ what? His mind was a complete blank. Oh how he wished he were smarter!

“You found Tabby?” his wife asked, glancing around the hallway. “Well, where is she? And why do you look so nervous?”

“N-no reason,” Cosmo said with a weak smile. Wanda’s arms moved from her hips to cross in front of her chest.

“Cosmo, come on. Where’s Tabby?”

“Heh, w-with her . . . uncle?” he said, his voice shaky. Wanda frowned.

“Cosmo, she doesn't have an uncle,” she reminded him, floating closer and conjuring her wand. She narrowed her eyes at him. “What happened? Where’s Tabby?”

Cosmo swallowed hard, his eyes darting between his wife’s burning glare and the wand she held tightly in her fist. He couldn’t lie to her, he had always been horrible at lying—especially to Wanda—so he decided that the grown up man thing to do would be to tell the truth. Just calmly tell her what had happened. It really wasn’t his fault, Anti-Cosmo had tricked them. Cosmo had actually tried to STOP his dark double from taking Tabby. Wanda couldn’t get mad at him if he tried to stop the abduction, right? After all, that’s what she herself would have done, had she been there.

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Just take a deep breath and calmly explain to Wanda exactly what happened.

Cosmo closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and opened his mouth.

“IT WASN’T MY FAULT!!” he sobbed, throwing himself onto his wife. “Anti-Cosmo appeared and starting talking all fancy and confused me and said he was my brother and Tabby said he wasn’t a girl and then I said he was her uncle and I tried to stop him but he tricked me and then they just disappeared!!” He clutched his wife tightly as he sobbed, wetting her shirt with a flood of tears. “I didn’t know what to do! He was talking so nice and seemed friendly enough! HE TRICKED ME!!”

He probably would have kept on like that for who knows how long if a hand hadn’t suddenly closed around his throat.

“Let me get this straight,” Wanda growled through gritted teeth. “Anti-Cosmo, the evil anti-fairy genius who escaped after you two had your fagiggly glands transplanted into each other, and has managed to evade capture for all this time, THAT Anti-Cosmo, was here.” Cosmo managed a nod above his wife’s fist. “And instead of calling me IMMEDIATELY upon his arrival, you and Tabby stood around and chatted with him.” Another strained nod from her husband. “THEN he disappeared and took Tabby with him. Do I have that right?” Cosmo nodded again, a weak, shaky smile curling his lips.

“That about covers it,” he croaked. Wanda’s hair suddenly blazed into flame, and Cosmo cringed at the fury in her eyes.

“COSMO!!” she bellowed, making him cry out in fear. “YOU JUST LET ONE OF THE MOST EVIL ANTI-FAIRIES IN EXISTANCE KIDNAP OUR GODDAUGHTER!” Her husband cowered in her grip, covering his head with shaky arms.

“I DIDN’T MEAN TO! It was an accident! I tried to stop him!”

Wanda raised her wand high above her head, and waved it angrily at her husband again and again and again. The green haired fairy changed forms quickly, becoming first a dung beetle, then a starfish, then an ant. Over and over he changed, transformed by his wife’s wand as she flicked her arm up and down in rapid succession, releasing her anger in the safest, most non-lethal way she knew how.

The starry tip flashed like a strobe light, soon becoming nothing more than a constant glowing blur. Her hair slowly returned to its normal pink sheen when she finally stopped, mostly because her arm was becoming sore, and Cosmo cried out again as he fell out of the air. Changing shapes so rapidly was disorienting, and the world was spinning.

“Okay,” she muttered, massaging her shoulder. “I feel a little better. But you’re still going to be in SO much trouble when we find Tabby and have her home safe and sound!” He smiled and nodded wildly as he dizzily resumed flight.

“Right! Trouble later! Find Tabby now!” He paused, worry clouding his face. “But, uh, how exactly are we going to find them?”

“With help.”

“Whose help?”

“The one fairy who oversees everything and everyone in Fairy World.” Cosmo paled.

“Oh no!” he cried, chewing on his fingernails. “Not—“

“Yep,” Wanda interrupted, raising her wand again. “We’ve gotta go see Jorgen. And explain to him how YOU screwed up.” The green haired fairy screamed.

“Couldn’t you just keep punishing me instead?” he asked as her wand glowed. With a sly smile, Wanda shook her head.

“’Fraid not. Jorgen needs to know about this.”

“NOOOOOO!” Cosmo screamed as they disappeared in a puff of smoke. His terror filled cry echoed through the empty house long after the two fairies had vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit with Jorgen. The Records Vault. More trouble.

As Cosmo stammered and sweated his way through an explanation to his wife, Anti-Cosmo and Tabby appeared in a small, dark room, lit only by a few candles. The little girl blinked quickly and glanced around herself, her fear slowly rising at the very unfamiliar surroundings and dusty paper smell.

A figure moved in the shadows, just out of Tabby’s sight, and she unconsciously clutched at Anti-Cosmo’s jacket, moving closer to him. He may have been the very reason she was in this strange, scary place, but at least he was somewhat familiar.

“Oh, don’t be frightened, dear,” he said softly, prying her fingers from his coat tails. “That is just my lovely wife.”

The shadowy being paused at the sound of his voice before quickly moving next to her husband.

“Well, hey there, sweetie!” the woman said in a slow southern drawl. “Where’d you go?” She leaned forward and placed a sloppy kiss on Anti-Cosmo’s cheek—the best kiss she could deliver due to her large, crooked teeth. The dark fairy smiled, but wiped his face with the back of his hand, almost automatically.

“I’ve been visiting with my ‘good fairy’ counterpart,” he said, giving his wife what appeared to be a shockingly genuine smile. “And look what I’ve brought back!” He pushed a frightened Tabby before him, and the female anti-fairy looked at the girl in confusion.

“That don’t look like Cosmo,” she said, an eyebrow raised. “You said you went to visit Cosmo, right?” Her husband sighed, casting his eyes skyward.

“Yes, darling, I did visit with Cosmo, the ignorant boob,” he patiently explained as Tabby struggled to hide behind him. “But this is his GODCHILD, Tabitha.”

“His godchild? But I thought she was a boy?”

“I believe you’re thinking of Timothy,” Anti-Cosmo replied, his patience reaching the snapping point. Oh how he loved his wife, but man alive, she could be almost as infuriating to talk to as Cosmo. “He was their godchild many years ago. They’ve had a few others since then, and now are caring for Tabitha. Well, until today, that is.”

“Oh,” his wife replied, still looking confused. “They’re not godparents anymore?” The dark fairy with the monocle sighed heavily, a hand massaging his temples.

“Oh, Anti-Wanda,” he muttered, making Tabby look up at him sharply. “My love, you can be so incredibly frustrating.”

“W-Wanda?” the little girl whispered, tugging on Anti-Cosmo’s pant leg. “She looks like Wanda. But she’s . . . kinda scary.” The dark fairy smiled down at her, almost gently, before slowly walking her closer to his wife.

“I know, dear,” he said with a sigh. “She can be a little odd, and takes some getting used to, but she’s actually quite a bit like your Daddy-Cosmo. This is my wife, and the opposite of your godmother, Anti-Wanda.”

At the sound of her name, the female anti-fairy did a little curtsey, holding the ends of an imaginary skirt with her fingers. Then she straightened and smiled kindly at the little girl.

“Howdy, sweetie,” Anti-Wanda said happily as she walked toward the little girl. “Nice to meet you, Samantha!”

“T-Tabby,” the little brunette replied, inching closer to her godmother’s exact opposite. “My name is Tabby. Hi.”

With a happy squeal, Anti-Wanda rushed forward and scooped the startled girl into her arms, swinging her around in an excited hug. Tabby cried out at the sudden movement, and clung to the anti-fairy’s arms to keep from being flung across the room in a wide arc.

“She’s so dang cute!” the dark fairy cried, smiling widely. “Oh, sweetie, isn’t she the cutest little thing you ever saw?!” Her husband smiled wearily at her as he massaged his temples. His headache was returning.

“Yes, yes, she’s just as cute as a bug’s ear,” he said distractedly as he floated toward them. Anti-Wanda returned Tabby to the floor as Anti-Cosmo leaned forward and placed a quick peck on his wife’s cheek. “You have fun dear, I’ll just be in the other room reading. I need some tea.” Tabby turned to her ‘Uncle Acie’ quickly, her eyes wide.

“I have to stay here?” she asked fearfully, her voice higher than usual. “With her?” The dark fairy patted her on the head, a small smile on his lips.

“Now, now, Tabitha,” he said quietly, gently pushing her toward his wife again. “Is that any way to speak about your new godmother?” The little girl’s eyes widened to approximately the size of dinner plates.

“New godmother?” she whispered, clamping onto Anti-Cosmo’s jacket. “B-but what about Wanda?? I wanna go home!” He smiled as he yanked his coat from her grip, turned and started floating toward the doorway to the adjoining room.

“Don’t be silly,” he said with a slight laugh. “You are home.”

Tabby stared blankly, mouth hanging agape, long after her ‘uncle’ had disappeared from sight.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“COSMO, YOU BUMBLING IDIOT!”

A very large, very loud explosion momentarily separated the Fairy Internal Affairs office building from its foundation as Jorgen’s anger materialized. As the building re-settled, black smoke poured from every window, quickly dissipating in the clear air of Fairy World.

Visibility was nil inside Jorgen’s office until the large muscular fairy waved his large heavy wand, clearing the air immediately. He and Wanda glared at the small floating piece of ash that was once a green haired fairy named Cosmo.

“Wow!” the charred fairy exclaimed happily, a large white smile appearing. “I got off easier than I thought!”

Jorgen sighed, casting his eyes skyward. Cosmo was always such a thorn in his side. Sometimes the pain Jorgen inflicted on the little fairy wasn’t worth the trouble he caused.

“Let me see if I truly understand this,” the large fairy said in his thick Austrian accent. “Anti-Cosmo, the evil anti fairy genius who has eluded capture for all this time, has suddenly appeared and kidnapped your godchild.” Wanda nodded, suddenly looking worried.

“Yes, she was taken about 15 minutes ago!” the pink haired fairy cried, hands clasped in front of her chest. “What do you think he’ll do to her?”

“Well, since Anti-Wanda disappeared from captivity some time ago, I think the more correct question would be ‘What do you think THEY’LL do to her’,” Jorgen said as he sat down at his desk. Wanda stared at her superior, mouth hanging slack.

“WHAT??” she cried as Jorgen looked back calmly. “How could you let Anti-Wanda escape??” Jorgen shrugged.

“Not my shift,” he replied. “Besides, considering that your anti version isn’t any smarter than your husband, I think it’s more likely that Anti-Cosmo was behind her escape.” Wanda slapped a hand over her eyes.

“Great,” she muttered. “So now BOTH our anti versions are loose and are doing who knows what with Tabby.”

“So, now what?” Cosmo asked as he poofed himself back to normal and floated next to his wife. “How do we find them?”

“You two will have to look everywhere an anti fairy would hide,” Jorgen said gruffly, jabbing a very muscular finger towards them. Wanda raised an eyebrow.

“Wait a minute, just us?” she asked, hands on hips. “An anti fairy has kidnapped a godchild, and you aren’t going to help us find her?!” Jorgen shrugged.

“Your godchild, your problem.”

Cosmo glanced to his left just in time to see Wanda’s face pull into a pronounced frown and her eye twitch. He had been married to her long enough to know what THAT look meant, so he wisely began backing away.

Jorgen noticed Cosmo’s sudden retreat and paled. He may have been the toughest fairy in the universe, and everyone trembled before his might and strength, but even he had to admit that Wanda was a force to be reckoned with when pushed too far.

“Listen up, jarhead!” Wanda growled just as her hair caught fire. “YOU are the one who’s supposed to be in charge of keeping those anti fairies locked up! YOU are the one who should have caught Anti-Cosmo a L-O-N-G time ago! YOU are OUR superior, so YOU are the one who’s gonna have his butt in a sling if the Fairy Council finds out about this! So you better get your wand and scramble the fairies—NOW!”

“The Fairy Council??” Jorgen exclaimed, sweating heavily. “Heh, now Wanda, we don’t need to involve the big brass in this, do we?”

“That depends on what your next move is,” she replied as her hair returned to normal. “What’s it gonna be, muscle boy?” She folded her arms across her chest and regarded him with narrowed eyes. The well-muscled head fairy behind the desk narrowed his eyes right back at her.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he growled. Wanda smiled slyly.

“Try me,” she hissed back.

The two glared at each other for a full minute, while Cosmo looked back and forth between them worriedly. They were trying to stare each other down, and each was too stubborn to even consider backing off. He wondered who he should root for, because if Wanda won, Jorgen wouldn’t exactly be too happy, and would most likely take it out on him. But if Jorgen won, then Wanda would be extremely unhappy at the lack of support from the head fairy, AND probably remember that she was ticked at Cosmo for letting Anti-Cosmo take Tabby in the first place.

Either scenario spelt bad news for Cosmo, but he figured he could live with an angry Jorgen more than an angry Wanda. After all, he wasn’t married to Jorgen.

He was just about to say something—what, he wasn’t exactly sure until it came out of his mouth—when Jorgen suddenly yelled and began rubbing his eyes.

“Aahhh! No more, no more puny fairy!” he cried, rubbing his watery eyes furiously. “I can take no more of your burning gaze! You win!”

“So you’ll help us find our goddaughter?” Wanda asked in a ‘ha-ha-I-won’ tone of voice. Jorgen sighed as he dropped his hands to the desk.

“Yes, yes, I’ll help you,” he said, sounding beaten. “Just, please, do not stare at me again!”

“Great!” Wanda cried, rubbing her hands together. “What’s our first move? Scramble the fairies? Consult with the Anti-Fairy experts to see where they think Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda would hide?” Jorgen shook his head.

“We head down to the records vault,” he said, grabbing his wand as he walked toward the door. Wanda and Cosmo exchanged a glance.

“Records vault?” the pink haired fairy repeated, slowly following her superior. “Uh, don’t we have a matter that’s a little more important here?” Cosmo shrugged.

“I don’t know, Wanda,” he said with a smile. “I guess it depends on what record he’s going for. OH! I hope it’s swing!” Cosmo started wiggling his hips to music only he could hear and grabbed his wife’s hand to dance with her. Wanda issued an annoyed grunt and swung him around, knocking him into the nearest wall.

“Cosmo! Later!” she hissed before catching up to Jorgen, who had moved further down the hall. “Jorgen, what’s so important in the records vault?”

“The proper paperwork for this situation,” he replied, stepping into an elevator with a large ‘RV’ inscribed on the door. “In order to assure a smooth operation, we must do this by the book.” Wanda’s jaw dropped.

“There’s actually a procedure for when an anti-fairy kidnaps a godchild??” Jorgen shrugged.

“There’s a procedure for EVERYTHING.”

Wanda stared at the muscular head fairy, completely stunned at his infuriatingly nonchalant attitude regarding such a serious situation. Cosmo had caught up to them and looked at the elevator curiously.

“Why don’t we just poof down there?” he asked as Jorgen held the door open for them. The big man frowned.

“What, and allow any fairy to just poof in there anytime they felt like it to mess with my very careful filing system?” he asked angrily. “Fairies can’t poof in there, it’s been secured with an enchantment. We have to use the door, and the only way to get there is with this elevator. NOW GET IN HERE!!”

Wanda and Cosmo jumped slightly and quickly flew into the little elevator. It was a tight fit, as presumably the only person who needed to use it was Jorgen, who took up a good three quarters of the space. Cosmo squished himself into the corner as far as the room would allow, and Wanda floated next to him, looking quite distracted as she worried about Tabby’s safety.

Once all this was over, ‘Hide and Seek’ was one game she would never want to play again.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“Is there anythin’ I can get for you, sweetie?” Anti-Wanda asked as Tabby sat and cried softly. “Do you want some candy er somethin’?” The little girl shook her head.

“I wanna go home!” she whimpered as more tears flowed down her cheeks. “I want my Mama-Wanda! I wish I was home!” Anti-Wanda, being unused to consoling a crying child, gently patted Tabby on the head.

“Aw, honey,” she soothed, brushing an errant strand of hair out of the child’s face. “Don’t you want to stay here, with me and Anti-Cosmo? Even for a little while?” Tabby shook her head, more forcefully this time.

“NO!” she cried, making Anti-Wanda jerk backwards. “I want to go home! I don’t want to be here! I don’t like you!” The female anti-fairy gasped and clutched her chest as though she’d been shot.

“TABITHA!” Anti-Cosmo cried from the doorway as he re-entered the room. He crossed it quickly, taking his wife into his arms. Anti-Wanda looked stunned and hurt. “That’s not a very nice thing to say!” Tabby frowned.

“I don’t care!” she yelled, getting to her feet and fully prepared to throw a grade A tantrum. “I don’t want to be here! Take me home! I don’t like you, Uncle Ace! I don’t like her! I want MY Wanda! I want MY Cosmo! I WANT TO GO HOME!”

“Settle down, young lady!” Anti-Cosmo said sternly, still cradling his shaken wife. “You will get nothing until you have calmed down and apologized to my wife for upsetting her!”

“NO!” Tabby cried, her fists clenched. “I WANT TO GO HOME NOW!” Each word was punctuated with a stamp of her foot. “NOW!!”

“Let’s just take her back, Anti-Cosmo,” the dark female fairy said quietly. Her husband looked at her, surprised.

“But dear,” he started gently, “she’ll settle down soon. We just need to give her some time to—“

“TABBY!!”

Three heads turned to the doorway—two anti-fairies and one human—at the sound of Wanda’s voice. Jorgen, Wanda and Cosmo were standing inside the records vault door, each wearing an expression of shock.

“Wanda! Cosmo!” the little girl cried happily, a large smile spreading across her face.

“I need to check on that enchantment spell,” Jorgen muttered as Wanda slowly floated forward, her hand outstretched.

“It’s okay, Tabby,” she was saying as she inched closer to her goddaughter. “We’re here now. You’re safe.” Cosmo was glaring at his duplicate, his wand clenched tightly in his fist.

“You’re not my brother,” he said in a low voice as he raised his wand and pointed it at Anti-Cosmo. “Now give me back my goddaughter.”

For what was possibly the first time in his life, Anti-Cosmo was out of ideas. He glanced quickly between his wife and Tabby, before looking back at their brightly colored doubles. He never expected to be found—at all, let alone so quickly—and being caught in such a vulnerable position had thrown him for an even bigger loop. He truly had no idea what to do.

“Honey . . .”

Anti-Cosmo looked down at the wife in his arms. Her bright pink eyes were wide, full of fear, hope, and longing. She flicked them sideways, then back to him in a silent message. Her husband followed her direction, and noticed something clutched tightly in her hand.

Her wand.

Understanding hit him like a static charge, and he looked up just in time to see that Wanda had closed the distance quickly and was now mere feet from her goddaughter. Tabby, as luck would have it, hadn’t moved an inch, and was still closer to the anti-fairies than her godparents. If Anti-Cosmo was going to take back control of the situation, he’d have to move fast.

“NO!” he cried, quickly flying to the little girl. He still held his wife with his left arm, so Anti-Cosmo curled his right around Tabby’s waist.

“Let her go!” Wanda cried as Cosmo quickly flew next to her, looking just as worried as she. “Don’t hurt her!”

“You can’t have her!” Anti-Cosmo cried as his wife raised her dark wand. “We need her!” Tabby squirmed in Anti-Cosmo’s grip.

“Let go!” she whined, struggling to reach for her godparents. “LET GO! Wanda! Cosmo! HEEELLLLLLPP!!”

“NO!” Cosmo and Wanda cried in unison as their dark duplicates disappeared with their goddaughter. All that was left was the echo of Tabby’s cry and the slight acrid smell of dark smoke.

“No . . .” Cosmo whispered as he floated to the spot they had disappeared from. Wanda remained where she was for a moment before turning on Jorgen, who was currently digging through a large cardboard box. Every so often he would pull out a handful of papers and rifle through them before tossing them behind him and starting the process all over again.

Jorgen’s ‘careful filing system’ left much to be desired.

“FAT LOT OF GOOD YOU WERE!!” she bellowed as the head fairy continued to toss papers over his shoulder. “Why didn’t you zap them or something??”

“This box was open,” the big man said distractedly. Wanda stared at him, stunned.

“SO??”

“There’s a file missing,” he said in that same calm, how’s-the-weather tone of voice. Wanda wasn’t sure to be more confused, stunned, or angry.

“I really hate to repeat myself, but SO??”

“I must consult with the Fairy Council,” Jorgen said, his face set like stone. Wanda growled.

“Oh NOW you’ll go to the Fairy Council,” she said, throwing her hands into the air. “You wouldn’t do it for a missing godchild but you will for a missing file! Unbelievable!”

“This whole case has become a whole lot more serious,” the head fairy said as he walked toward the door. Wanda and Cosmo exchanged a glance before following him.

“I don’t get it,” Cosmo said as they filed into the elevator. “What’s more serious than a missing godchild?”

“The future and safety of Fairy World,” his supervisor answered, his voice emotionless. The elevator doors closed as Cosmo and Wanda exchanged another, more worried glance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SCRAMBLE THE FAIRIES!! . . . Well, after the appropriate paperwork has been filed, in triplicate, and approved by the Fairy Council.

“How long it’s been,” Anti-Cosmo said quietly as he looked around the dark house. “And yet it’s still so familiar.”

“It was the only place I could think of to go,” Anti-Wanda replied softly as she gently laid Tabby on the tattered couch. She had cast a dual spell, almost automatically—one to transport them, and another to put the little girl to sleep. “You probably would have picked a better place—“

“No, this was very clever,” her husband interrupted, smiling kindly. “I’m very proud of you, my darling.”

He meant it, too. It never would have occurred to him to hide at their old house in the now deserted Anti-Fairy World, yet his wife had never so much as hesitated. She may not be one of the smartest beings he’d ever known, but her line of thinking was sometimes very clever. The female anti-fairy blushed.

“Thanks, sweetie,” she said with a crooked smile, and giggled when her husband flew to her and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “So . . . now what?” Anti-Cosmo sighed heavily.

“Now we wait until Tabitha awakes, and try to gain her trust,” he said as he watched the little girl sleep. “She is the key to our future.”

His wife said nothing as she turned to follow his gaze. Tabby had curled herself into the fetal position, and twitched slightly as she dreamed. The girl looked so small, so vulnerable. Anti-Wanda furrowed her brow as she watched the child, doubt gnawing incessantly at her mind.

“What is it, my dear?” Anti-Cosmo asked softly when he noticed his wife’s thoughtful expression. “What troubles you?” Anti-Wanda didn’t reply for a long moment, and when she finally did, her voice was soft and full of uncertainty.

“Are we doing the right thing?” she asked quietly, her eyes never leaving the girl on the couch. Her husband uttered a gentle chuckle as he curled his arms around her waist from behind.

“We’re anti-fairies, my love,” he whispered into her ear, making her shiver. “We never do the ‘right thing’.” Anti-Wanda shook her head, twisting her body within her husband’s arms so she could face him.

“That’s not what I mean,” she said, resting her hands on his chest. “She’s just a little girl. We shouldn’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to. Besides, she doesn’t like us very much.” Her husband shrugged.

“That can change. She will probably be calmer after her nap, so we can try again. We can use the fact that she’s so close to our colorful counterparts to our advantage. We ARE all alike in more ways than we’d like to admit, after all.”

“Maybe,” Anti-Wanda said, glancing over her shoulder at the child. “I just don’t know if this is such a good idea.” Anti-Cosmo used a gentle hand to turn his wife’s face back to him, and smiled lovingly at her.

“You just let me do the worrying, okay my darling?” he said softly, locking her large pink eyes with his green. “You just think about being the beautiful anti-fairy you are, and the child will come around soon. You’ll see.”

He kissed her gently on the lips, an action that was no small feat, taking her large crooked teeth into consideration. But they had been married for just as long as their fairy doubles, and this complication had been overcome a long, long time ago. Anti-Wanda hesitated for a few seconds before kissing him back, in that shy, gentle way that made the evil genius’ black heart flutter madly.

“Things will be better for us, my lovely wife,” Anti-Cosmo whispered once their kiss had ended. He gently caressed Anti-Wanda’s hair as she laid her head against his shoulder. “Things will change soon.”

His wife said nothing as she closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. She knew she shouldn’t worry—he was a genius, after all—but she simply couldn’t silence the little nagging voice in the back of her mind, no matter how hard she tried.

It felt like what they were doing was wrong, and not in the usual ‘cause bad luck for everyone’ type of wrong that anti-fairies excelled at. This type of wrong made her stomach uneasy. This was so different than anything any anti-fairy had done—EVER—that she couldn’t even think of what kind of punishment she and Anti-Cosmo would suffer if (when?) caught. This type of wrong was . . . well, WRONG—in big capital letters, flashing neon orange. It was kind of hard to ignore that type of warning.

But she kept her fears and worries to herself, mostly because her husband was so sure things would work out. He was the smart one, and she trusted him completely. Anti-Cosmo was cold and calculating, always thinking about his next evil plot and already three steps ahead of those who might try to stop him—but he was also kind and gentle with the woman he loved, and would go to great lengths to keep her safe and happy.

“I’m going to go upstairs and see what’s left of my den, darling,” Anti-Cosmo said softly, jostling his wife from her thoughts. “Do keep an eye on the girl, hmm?” Anti-Wanda nodded, a small smile on her lips. “Good. Call for me if you need anything.” The dark fairy placed a quick kiss on his wife’s cheek as he released her, before floating quickly up the dilapidated stairway.

Anti-Wanda watched her husband disappear up the stairs before turning back towards Tabby. The little girl was still sleeping, and had stuck her thumb in her mouth at some point. As the dark fairy watched, the child curled into a tighter ball, her body shivering slightly. Thinking she might be cold, Anti-Wanda used her wand to create a thick blanket, and gently tucked it around the sleeping child.

“Please don’t hate us, Tabby,” she whispered, gently stroking the girl’s soft hair. “We won’t hurt you.” As if to reply, Tabby shifted beneath the blanket, the thumb popping momentarily out of her mouth.

“ . . . Mama . . .” she muttered as she rolled over, the thumb returning to her mouth. Anti-Wanda smiled as she sat on the floor next to the couch, positioning herself so that she could lean against it and continue stroking the little girl’s hair.

“Maybe things WILL be better,” the anti-fairy whispered, gazing at the sleeping child. “Maybe.”

The dark fairy sat quietly, watching the girl sleep and absently stroking her brown hair. Tears streamed down her cheeks unnoticed, the gentle smile still on her lips.

_**~X~X~X~** _

Wanda sat against the wall, her knees drawn up to her chin. She curled her arms around her legs, hugging them tight. The events of the day had left her shaken and confused, and she struggled to understand all she had seen.

Jorgen had called an emergency meeting with the Fairy Council as soon as they had stepped off the elevator, and a meeting was currently taking place in the room on the other side of the wall Wanda was leaning against. The deafening silence of the hallway was periodically broken by loud shouting, followed by a small explosion as, presumably, Jorgen presented his counter-argument.

“At least she didn’t look like she was hurt,” Cosmo said quietly as he sat across the hall from her. He was still worried about punishment for losing Tabby earlier that day and wisely keeping his distance. “That’s something, right? AC wouldn’t hurt her, would he?”

Wanda said nothing. She was staring blankly into space, replaying the scene in the Records Vault over and over in her mind, searching for something, anything that might hold a clue as to where they took her goddaughter. She always came up empty of course, because she had never been to the Vault before that, so she had no idea what might have been considered ‘out of place’. But a few things kept whispering to her, poking the back of her mind like an annoying moth, bouncing repeatedly against a windowpane.

“What for?” she muttered, completely unaware she had spoken aloud. Cosmo gave his wife a questioning glance.

“Huh?”

Wanda looked at him then, her face filled with confusion and fear.

“Right before they disappeared, Anti-Cosmo said that they ‘needed’ Tabby,” she reminded him. “What do they need her FOR?” Cosmo shrugged.

“Maybe they just wanted a godchild of their own,” he suggested softly. Wanda uttered a sharp laugh.

“Please, Cosmo,” she said, waving a dismissive hand. “Anti-fairies don’t care about humans. All they care about is causing trouble. You know that.” Her husband shrugged again.

“Back at the house, AC told me that he sometimes feels the urge to do good and help people since our operation,” he said slowly, hoping not to remind Wanda that she was angry at him. “Maybe my fagiggly gland is making him not be so mean.”

Wanda sat quietly as she considered this. Immediately after the operation, Anti-Cosmo had acted like Cosmo, if only for a brief instance. And a lot of years had passed since then, which might have allowed the transplanted gland to continue affecting AC in much the same way. Was it possible that the gland had started to change Anti-Cosmo, if only slightly? Make him, as her husband had so eloquently phrased it, ‘not be so mean’?

After another moment’s thought, Wanda slowly shook her head.

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” she said with a sigh, resting her elbow on her knee and perching her chin in her hand. “What’s so ‘good and helpful’ about kidnapping a child?” Cosmo could only offer her an apologetic shrug.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Wanda fretting and worrying for Tabby’s safety, and Cosmo mentally berating himself for allowing her to be taken in the first place. The meeting had suddenly quieted down, and the silence in the hallway pounded in their ears.

“I’m sorry, Wanda,” Cosmo said softly, startling Wanda from her thoughts. “I should have just called for you when AC showed up.” The pink haired fairy furrowed her brow.

“Yes, you should have,” she said sternly, making him lower his head. “You know he’s an evil genius, and he must have had some evil plan to even show up in the first place. Why on earth didn’t you just grab Tabby and poof out of there?” Cosmo shrugged, his head still lowered.

“I don’t know,” he said in a shaky voice. “I . . . I just didn’t think of it. I never expected him to take her.”

Wanda sighed, rubbing her temples slowly. She supposed she should try and get past this anger at Cosmo, but every time she thought about Tabby being in the clutches of the most brilliantly evil anti-fairy in the universe, she couldn’t help thinking about WHY she was there. Because of Cosmo. He had screwed up—AGAIN—and now her goddaughter was who knows where, with Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda, and they were doing who knows what to her. Anti-Cosmo’s words still rang in her ears (“We NEED her!”), filling her with even more dread.

Need her for WHAT?

“Cosmo,” Wanda started, picking her words carefully. He raised his head enough to look at her through his bangs. “You know I love you very much, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly.

“You know that I would never intentionally hurt you or be mean to you for no reason, right?”

Another slow nod.

“And you know that I’ll eventually stop being mad at you, right?”

He nodded for the third time.

“Okay, now keep all of that in mind when I say this, okay?”

Cosmo scrunched his face up as though he were expecting a punch to the jaw.

“This is, quite possibly, THE dumbest and most stupid thing that you have EVER done. EVER.”

The green haired fairy jerked as if actually struck and lowered his head again. Wanda sat watching him, unsure how to feel—on the one hand, Cosmo WAS responsible for losing their goddaughter and should feel bad about it, but, on the other hand, was being mean to him doing anything constructive? Sure it helped Wanda blow off some steam and frustration, but what good did that do if it was just going to make her feel guilty later? Was it helping to find Tabby? Isn’t that what mattered most of all?

With a heavy sigh, Wanda crawled across the hallway and sat next to her husband. He was trembling, and she guessed that he was probably crying. This did nothing to shrink the ball of guilt that was starting to form in her stomach, and she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Cosmo . . .” she said softly, and uttered a surprised gasp when he violently shook her hand off as he stood. It was then that Wanda realized he wasn’t shaking because he was crying, he was shaking out of rage.

“That’s not fair!” he hissed as he turned to her, his eyes brimming with anger and hurt. Tears of frustration were leaking steadily from his eyes. “I didn’t do it on purpose! I had no idea he was going to take her and even tried to stop him!”

“Cosmo,” Wanda soothed as she stood. She was surprised to discover that she was slightly scared—she had never seen him react like this. “I’m sorry I said what I did, just please calm down!” She took a step toward him, her arms outstretched, and he jerked backwards, staying out of her reach.

“I know I’m stupid,” he was saying, his body still trembling and tears still falling. “I know I’m cowardly and immature and irresponsible. I’m easily confused, manipulated and fooled. But I love Tabby, and I never want anything bad to happen to her!”

“I know, sweetie,” Wanda said, inching her way closer to him. “I know you don’t. It was wrong of me to say that, very wrong. Honey, calm down—“

“YOU weren’t there,” he said, jabbing an accusatory finger at her. “You have no idea what happened. I DID try to stop him!”

“Okay sweetie,” she said, holding her hands in front of her. She faintly wondered if it was a soothing gesture for him or a defensive gesture for her. He was becoming so upset she worried how he’d react. He suddenly plunged his hands into his hair and gave one hard tug before screaming:

“I’M STUPID, OKAY? I’M REALLY, REALLY STUPID AND TOTALLY UNFIT TO BE A GODPARENT! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR??”

Realizing Cosmo was getting dangerously hysterical, Wanda launched herself at him, hitting him in the middle and sending them both to the floor. He lay stunned for a few seconds, which was long enough for the pink haired fairy to scramble up, coming to rest straddling him, her knees pinning his arms to his sides.

“Cosmo, listen to me,” she said gently, taking his face into her hands and locking eyes with him. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m very sorry I said that. It was unfair, you’re right, because I don’t know exactly everything that happened. I know you care about Tabby and would never just allow her to be taken. I was wrong, sweetie. I’m sorry!”

Cosmo was breathing hard, partly because of his outburst and partly because his wife was sitting on his chest. The grimace of hurt and anger that he had been wearing a moment ago now shattered, replaced by sorrow and guilt.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered harshly, fresh tears falling from his eyes. “I’m sorry I lost her.” Wanda shook her head, smiling gently.

“You tried to stop him,” she whispered back, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “We’ll find her and everything will be back to normal. You’ll see.”

“Ahem!”

Cosmo and Wanda froze, startled by the new voice in the hallway. They stared at each other with wide eyes before slowly turning in the direction the voice had come from.

“Are we interrupting anything?” Jorgen asked, an eyebrow raised. The entire Fairy Council was standing behind him, staring slack-jawed at the two fairies on the floor.

“NO!” Wanda cried as she jumped off of her husband and resumed floating. “No, we were . . . just worried about Tabby.” Her cheeks burned bright red, making her feel warm. A quick glance at her husband showed a similar expression on his face as he got to his feet, quickly wiping his flushed cheeks dry.

Jorgen’s eyebrow went even higher as he gave her a dubious look.

“Obviously,” he said, rolling his eyes. Cosmo and Wanda turned even darker red.

“S-so what’s the verdict?” Wanda asked, floating closer to her superior. “What did the Council decide?”

“Negotiations were tough,” Jorgen said, puffing out his mighty, muscular chest. “But we finally reached a decision.” He stood silently for a moment, as if building suspense.

“AND??” Cosmo and Wanda asked together.

“We’ve decided to put a new enchantment on the Records Vault,” the Head Fairy said, looking proud as some of the Fairy Council members patted each other on the backs. Cosmo grabbed his wife and pushed her behind him as her hair went aflame. She looked ready to murder.

“What about Tabby?” he asked as calmly as he could while struggling to hold back his infuriated wife. “And that thing about the safety of Fairy World?” Jorgen waved a large hand.

“Yes, yes, we discussed that, too,” he said, crossing his arms. “We must find her to ensure the safety of Fairy World. It all fits together so marvelously!”

Cosmo seriously considered tossing Wanda at the Head Fairy.

“Now then,” Jorgen was saying as Wanda calmed. “We need to figure out just where an evil anti-fairy would hide out.” The Fairy Council members behind him began to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

“Pixie World?” one suggested.

“Dairy World?” another offered.

“Cherry World?” a third chimed in. Jorgen shook his head at each suggestion.

“Not dark and dreary enough,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Wherever he is, it must be someplace that an anti-fairy would feel comfortable.”

Silence reigned for a minute as everyone in the hallway thought this through. Cosmo looked from one face to another before clearing his throat.

“Um, what about Anti-Fairy World?” he asked, giving a slight shrug. Wanda shook her head.

“Why would he go there?” she asked with her own small shrug. “Anti-Fairy World has been deserted for years.” Cosmo furrowed his brow.

“Wouldn’t that make it a really good hiding place, then?”

The hallway fell silent again as all eyes fell on Cosmo. He looked around nervously at the stares and felt himself blush again.

“What?”

“QUICKLY!” Jorgen bellowed, making everyone within earshot jump. “WE MUST SCRAMBLE THE FAIRIES!!” The Head Fairy ran swiftly down the hall, followed closely by the Fairy Council members.

“Genius!” Wanda squealed happily as she planted a kiss on Cosmo’s cheek. He offered her a crooked smile as she grabbed his arm and yanked him after the others.

_**~X~X~X~** _

Tabby awoke slowly, and smiled as she snuggled herself into the warm blanket around her. Someone was stroking her hair, and she could tell from the soft gentle touch it was her Mama-Wanda. She was home. All that scary stuff with the dark blue fairies must have been a bad dream.

She sensed someone to her right and turned her head, slowly opening her eyes. Just as she expected, two large pink eyes gazed back at her, and Wanda smiled, showing large crooked teeth. They were very white against her blue skin, and Tabby wondered why she had never noticed that before.

Wait a minute.

Tabby’s eyes opened wide as she bolted into an upright position. Anti-Wanda jerked her hand back, her large smile wavering. She looked almost as scared as Tabby.

“Where am I?” the little girl cried, scooting herself back against the corner of the couch as far as possible. “Where’s Wanda?” Without giving the anti-fairy a chance to answer, Tabby threw her head back and issued an almost ear piercing scream.

Anti-Wanda flew forward before she was even aware she was moving. She clamped a hand over the girl’s mouth, giving her a pleading look.

“Please don’t be scared, sweetie!” the dark fairy said, stroking Tabby’s hair gently. “We’re not going to hurt you, Tabby! I promise!” Tears had begun leaking from Anti-Wanda’s eyes again, and Tabby’s brown eyes flicked back and forth between her cheeks. The little girl reached up and pried the hand off her mouth.

“You’re crying,” she said in a tone that could have been more question than statement. Anti-Wanda blushed and hurriedly wiped at her cheeks.

“Oh,” she said, her voice shaky. “It’s nothing . . .”

“What’s going on down here?” Anti-Cosmo called as he hurried down the stairway. “Why is she screaming?”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Anti-Wanda was saying, offering her husband a weak smile. “She was just scared is all.” Tabby looked at her ‘Uncle Ace’.

“She’s crying,” she said quietly, pointing at the female anti-fairy’s cheeks. “Why is she crying?” Anti-Cosmo placed a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“Darling?” he said softly, leaning close to her. “What’s wrong?” Anti-Wanda shook her head, wiping at the tears that stubbornly continued to fall.

“I’ll be okay,” she said, right before she began to sob. Anti-Cosmo, looking confused and worried, took her into his arms, gently caressing her dark hair.

“My love,” he whispered, delicately wiping away her tears. “What upsets you so?”

Before Anti-Wanda could respond, bright lights flashed through the windows and the front door burst open. A dozen fairy soldiers sped in, wands at the ready and pointed at the anti-fairies. Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda and Tabby stared at the invaders, wide-eyed.

Anti-Cosmo could have kicked himself for being caught in such a vulnerable position. AGAIN.

“DON’T MOVE!” the commander shouted as Jorgen stomped into the house, quickly followed by Cosmo and Wanda.

“We’ve come for the child,” the Head Fairy said. “Hand her over and no one gets hurt.”

“Tabby!” Wanda called worriedly. “Are you all right?” The little girl nodded slowly.

“She’s crying,” she said, pointing to Anti-Wanda. Her godmother gave her a confused look.

“Th-that’s too bad,” Wanda said, exchanging a quick glance with Cosmo. Jorgen grunted loudly.

“ENOUGH TALKING!” he bellowed, making everyone cringe. “Hand over the girl, NOW!” Anti-Cosmo released his wife and quickly flew forward, in front of his wife and Tabitha.

“You’ll have to come over here and take her!” he called defiantly, raising his wand and pointing it at the Head Fairy. Jorgen narrowed his eyes at the dark fairy.

“Do not tempt me, puny little anti-fairy.”

“Uh, Jorgen,” Cosmo called nervously, casting a nervous glance between the large Head Fairy and his dark double. “Shouldn’t we get Tabby out of here before you start blowing people up?” Jorgen shot a sideways glance at the little green haired fairy before directing his eyes back at Anti-Cosmo.

“WANDA!” the very muscular fairy ordered, making the little fairy jump. “Retrieve your godchild!”

What happened next took place so quickly that everyone involved could only stand in stunned silence for a full minute afterward in order to fully process the occurrences.

As soon as the order left Jorgen’s mouth, Wanda had launched herself forward in an attempt to take back her goddaughter. Anti-Cosmo—obviously not willing to lose the child he had so painstakingly kidnapped—quickly flew back to his wife, his wand raised. As the dark star at the tip began to glow, Wanda had reached Tabby, latching onto the girl’s arm and accidentally knocking Anti-Wanda onto her back in the process. Anti-Cosmo’s wand flashed brightly, momentarily blinding everyone in the dark room.

Anti-Cosmo, Wanda and Tabby were gone. And they had left Anti-Wanda behind. Jorgen approached the frightened and stunned anti-fairy, his face hidden in shadows.

“We have a few questions for you,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. Anti-Wanda cried out as she was seized by two fairy soldiers.

Cosmo watched as his wife’s duplicate was dragged from the house, struggling and calling her husband’s name, large tears streaming down her cheeks. The little green haired fairy followed the group in silence. He wasn’t sure what his next move should be, but thought he should stay with Anti-Wanda.

At this particular moment, he knew exactly how she was feeling.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda's gone. Anti-Wanda's captured. Things just got a little more complicated.

Wanda blinked quickly, her head spinning. Anti-fairy magic was the polar opposite of fairy magic, and being suddenly transported by it left her quite disoriented. Small hands were clutching her arm, shaking her urgently.

“Mama-Wanda, Mama-Wanda!” a voice called worriedly, and it took the pink haired fairy a few seconds to recognize it as her goddaughter, Tabby. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Wanda replied as she put a hand to her forehead. Her mind was still reeling, and she shook her head slightly in a vain attempt to clear it. “Just a little dizzy. I’ll be okay—“

She was cut off suddenly when two hands roughly grabbed her shirt and lifted her clear off the ground. The sudden movement did nothing to help her already spinning head, and she uttered a soft groan.

“What have you done??” a voice demanded, it’s tone edged with worry. “WHERE IS MY WIFE??”

This voice sounded both familiar and strange to Wanda. It sounded like Cosmo, but there was something different about it that the pink haired fairy couldn’t put her finger on. She clamped her eyes shut tightly and gave her head one more stern shake, hoping to regain some balance. Her head did clear somewhat, allowing her to remember what had happened, and she opened her eyes wide.

“Get your hands off me!” she hissed, slapping Anti-Cosmo’s fists from her blouse. She fell backwards, stumbling slightly on her feet. The anti-fairy continued to glare at her, his brow furrowed deeply in his anger.

“Where is my wife?” he growled through gritted teeth.

Wanda smiled. “Probably on her way back to the Anti-Fairy Prison by now,” she said pleasantly, making the dark fairy before her clench his hands into tight fists. “Why don’t you do yourself a favor and turn yourself in so you can be with her?”

Anti-Cosmo growled, deep within his throat. “How DARE you . . .” he hissed.

Wanda uttered a short laugh. “ME??” she cried, patting her back pockets. “YOU’RE the one who kidnapped Tabby in the first place and started this whole mess!”

Her eyes flicked quickly to the floor and scanned the area around them. Anti-Cosmo noticed her searches and smiled smugly.

“Looking for this?” he asked quietly, pulling the pink haired fairy’s wand from his jacket pocket and dangling it between his thumb and forefinger. “It would seem that you are unarmed and defenseless, would it not?”

It was Wanda’s turn to growl. “For now,” she said quietly, pushing Tabby behind her. “But if you do anything to us—“

“Oh, please,” Anti-Cosmo said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he returned the stolen wand to his pocket. “What do you take me for, a common thug? I have no intention of harming either of you.”

“Then let us go,” his wife’s duplicate said with a smirk. The anti-fairy uttered a soft laugh as he turned and began floating away.

“Oh, Wanda,” he called over his shoulder. “You silly woman, you know I can’t do that. I need you.” Wanda frowned.

“For what?”

Anti-Cosmo paused, and turned to offer her a sly smile.

“Collateral,” he said before turning and floating into the shadows.

_**~X~X~X~** _

“WHERE ARE THEY??” Jorgen bellowed once more, causing the already cringing Anti-Wanda to crawl even further into the corner of the interrogation room. Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks as her body ached from his last attack.

“I DON’T KNOW!” she cried for the fifth time. Or was it the sixth? Tenth? After so many jolts from Jorgen’s wand, she was having trouble keeping track. The Head Fairy leveled his weapon at her once again, delivering another powerful bolt of electricity upon her. The anti-fairy screamed shrilly.

“You can make this easier on yourself,” Jorgen said as he went to one knee before her. “Just tell me where your husband took the girl and fairy.”

Anti-Wanda shook her head, her body trembling with muted sobs.

“I-I don’t know where they are!” she told him in a cracked voice. “Honest!” Jorgen frowned as he stood.

“WHY MUST YOU TEST MY PATIENCE??” he boomed, zapping the cowering anti-fairy once more. Anti-Wanda arched her back, her pain-filled shrieks bouncing off the padded walls.

“S-sir, I think she’s telling the truth,” a fairy soldier said shakily. He was fairly new to the academy and had never seen such torture before. Jorgen turned to him, pegging the new recruit with a dark look. A satisfied smile curled the Head Fairy’s lips when the soldier backed away nervously.

The very muscular fairy was in a particularly bad mood at the moment, and filling others with terror was the only way to perk his spirits.

“Fine,” the large fairy muttered as he turned and stormed through the door. “Gather the Anti-Fairy Experts. I want those three found immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” a soldier said immediately, then paused slightly. “But what about the anti-fairy? Shouldn’t we—“

“She’s not going anywhere,” Jorgen said, his pace never slowing. “She has no wand and that room is reinforced with three powerful enchantments. No one can poof into or out of there. NO ONE.” His soldiers nodded, and quickly followed the Head Fairy out of the building.

No one noticed the little green haired fairy standing in front of the two-way mirror of the interrogation room. He had witnessed the entire scene—cringing with every shot Jorgen had fired and wincing at every pain-filled cry Anti-Wanda had uttered. Yes, she was an anti-fairy, but Cosmo felt sorry for her, having been on the receiving end of Jorgen’s attacks himself. But to be zapped that many times, in rapid succession? Cosmo shuddered. That was pretty awful.

Cosmo stood where he was for another moment, watching through the special mirror as the dark duplicate of his wife sobbed quietly in the corner. Her body shuddered, and thin tendrils of smoke drifted up from her skin.

She was an anti-fairy, the embodiment of bad luck and dark magic. But Cosmo’s heart went out to her just the same. She looked so sad and alone.

Taking a quick glance around him, Cosmo slowly moved to the door of the interrogation room. Once he had assured himself he was alone, he carefully opened it and quietly moved inside, closing the large door behind him.

“Hey,” he called softly as he knelt before the sobbing anti-fairy. “A-are you okay?”

He almost kicked himself. Of course she wasn’t ‘okay’. You don’t suffer through that many attacks from Jorgen Von Strangle and just come out ‘okay’ at the end. But luckily, anti-fairies were just as fast healers as fairies were, and Cosmo noted that Anti-Wanda’s skin was already beginning to heal itself. She wasn’t smoking anymore, and the dark, charred patches of skin were starting to flake off, revealing healthy blue skin beneath.

“Do you want some water?” he asked gently, leaning slightly closer. She may have been in pain and scared, but she was still an anti-fairy and Cosmo was trying not to take any chances. He wasn’t exactly sure what she could—or would—do.

Anti-Wanda nodded as her sobs began to taper off, and sniffled as she pulled herself into a more upright sitting position. The pain in her body was slowly dissipating, and she was struggling to get herself more under control. Cosmo nodded back to her, and hurried to the water cooler in the hallway outside for her drink.

“Here you go,” he said softly as he offered her the paper cup. Anti-Wanda took it shyly, grateful for his kindness.

“Thanks,” she said quietly. As she sipped the cool water, she gave him a confused look. “Don’t you hate me, too?”

Cosmo jerked back slightly, surprised by the question. His automatic reaction was to tell her that of course he did—she was an anti-fairy, fairies were SUPPOSED to hate them. But instead, he cocked his head to the side as he thought. DID he hate her? He didn’t think so. He didn’t think he hated anyone—well, except for Juandissimo, and that was different—so it was kind of hard to say. ‘Hate’ was such a strong word, especially for someone he didn’t even really know.

He shrugged. “I don’t think so,” he said slowly, looking confused himself. “Do you hate me?” Anti-Wanda sat quietly for a moment, presumably running the same line of thought through her mind. Finally she shook her head.

“No,” she said quietly, staring at the paper water cup in her hands. “I guess not.”

The two sat in silence for a while, Anti-Wanda staring at the paper cup, and Cosmo watching her. His mind was a whirlwind of questions—what to do, where was Wanda and Tabby, did this anti-fairy really know and wasn’t telling—and he struggled to keep them from popping out of his mouth. He had the feeling that Anti-Wanda might talk to him, but he was worried about bombarding her with too much, too quickly. He was dying to find out what she knew about this whole situation, but forced himself to keep his mouth shut for now. She was still vulnerable, and he did not want her to feel like she had traded one interrogator for another.

“Do you like being a godparent?” Anti-Wanda asked suddenly, her voice soft and quiet.

Cosmo nodded slightly. “Yeah,” he said, his voice just as soft. “I do.”

The anti-fairy nodded without looking at him. “Thought so,” she whispered softly.

The silence returned, pounding heavily in their ears. Anti-Wanda had finished her water and now nervously fingered the paper cup, tearing it apart, one tiny piece at a time. Cosmo watched her for a few minutes, before summoning the courage to ask the one question that kept bobbing to the front of his mind.

“Why did Anti-Cosmo take Tabby?”

Anti-Wanda looked up at him, apparently startled by the question. Seeing her this close up, Cosmo was taken aback by how identical the anti-fairy looked to his wife. It was strange, to say the least, and it didn’t help that Anti-Wanda’s eyes were the exact same shade of pink as Wanda’s. But while Wanda’s eyes usually exuded love and happiness, Anti-Wanda’s now shone with sorrow and regret.

“Because of me,” she whispered harshly, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks.

Before Cosmo had a chance to reply, the door burst open and six fairy soldiers filed in, the leader carrying a heavy chain with shackles.

“Time to go, anti-fairy,” he said before clacking the shackles closed on Anti-Wanda’s wrists and ankles.

_**~X~X~X~** _

“How long are you going to keep us here?” Wanda called up to Anti-Cosmo. They were in an obviously abandoned warehouse on earth—somewhere—and the anti-fairy had been staring out a high window for the past hour. Wanda would have never even known he was there except for the moonlight spilling onto his face, illuminating it with a soft glow.

“Until I decide it’s time to leave,” the dark fairy replied, never turning to her. “Please do not disturb me. I’m thinking.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Funny,” she said as she sat down next to Tabby. “Looks to me like you’re just staring out into space. And I know that look, I’m married to Cosmo, remember!”

He turned to her with a scowl. “And I’m married to Anti-Wanda, a woman who’s not as sassy!”

Wanda jumped to her feet with a growl. “Come down here and say that!” she shouted, her hands clenched into tight fists. “I’ll take you down even without magic!”

“Oh, I’d like to see you try!” Anti-Cosmo snapped as he quickly flew down to face the angry fairy. The two glared heatedly at each other for a moment before a small hand appeared on each of their bellies, pushing them apart.

“No fighting!” Tabby said angrily. “Mama! Uncle Acie! No fighting! Stop it!”

The two adversaries looked down at the little referee for a few seconds before looking back at each other. They each issued an annoyed grunt before reluctantly turning away. Anti-Cosmo flew back to his spot before the window, and Wanda flopped herself down cross-legged on the floor.

“Don’t you worry, Tabby,” she said as the little girl sat next to her. “Jorgen will find us and then your ‘Uncle Ace’ will get what he deserves!”

The pink haired fairy was still glaring at Anti-Cosmo, her brow furrowed deeply. Tabby looked at her godmother questioningly. She had never heard the usually loving fairy talk so venomously about someone. It was kind of scary.

“Why are you being so mean?” the little girl asked, drawing a surprised look from her godmother.

“Tabby, HE’S the reason we’re here, remember?” the fairy said, careful to keep her voice soft. “We’re far away from Cosmo and home and he’s just floating up there, staring out the window! Aren’t you mad at him for taking you so far away from your home?”

Tabby looked up and studied the anti-fairy for a moment before turning back to her godmother.

“He looks sad,” she said simply, getting to her feet. “And you shouldn’t be mean to someone who’s sad.”

Without giving Wanda a chance to respond, Tabby walked toward the floating anti-fairy.

“Hi!” she called, giving him a little wave. Anti-Cosmo looked down at the little girl before glancing over at Wanda, who was still sitting cross-legged and watching them.

“You should go back to your godmother,” he said, his focus returning to the window.

“Can I come up?” Tabby asked instead, pointing to the tower of decaying wooden crates piled against the wall.

Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed. “I highly doubt these would hold your weight,” he said, gesturing to the crates. “They’re quite old and rotten.” Glancing down, Anti-Cosmo discovered that the little girl was already halfway up the stack. He uttered a heavy sigh as he rolled his eyes again. “Of course, I suppose it’s a moot point considering you’re coming up anyway.”

“Hi!” Tabby said again as she reached the top. The stack swayed slightly beneath her, and she shifted her weight accordingly to stay upright.

“Hello,” Anti-Cosmo replied raising an eyebrow. “Is there something I can do for you?”

The little girl shrugged. “I just wanted to see what you were looking at,” she said, grasping the windowsill and pulling herself up on her tiptoes to peer through the dirty glass. “Whatcha looking at?”

“Nothing,” the anti-fairy replied, casting his gaze through the window again.

Tabby uttered a soft laugh. “Well, that’s boring. If you’re gonna look through a window, you should at least look at something!”

Anti-Cosmo looked at the child for a moment before facing front again. Tabby glanced sideways at him, not moving her head. They remained that way for a few minutes, staring out the window at nothing and thinking their own thoughts.

On the floor, Wanda watched. She really didn’t understand why Tabby insisted on interacting with Anti-Cosmo, and the fact that she was so high up on what was obviously unsafe crates unnerved her. What if she fell? Would Wanda be able to get to her in time?

As though the fairy had willed it to happen, the crates suddenly shifted beneath Tabby’s feet and she slipped slightly, waving her arms for balance. Wanda gasped and leapt off the floor, preparing to fly as fast as she could to catch the little girl before she fell completely, when Anti-Cosmo shot a hand out and grabbed the girl’s arm, pulling her steady.

Wanda’s mouth dropped open. Anti-Cosmo, the evil anti-fairy genius, had just SAVED a little girl from falling? That couldn’t be what she had just seen, could it?

“You should really get down, Tabby,” she heard him tell the little girl, his voice strangely gentle. “You’re going to get hurt.”

“Are you sad because you miss your wife?” Tabby asked quietly, and Wanda unconsciously floated closer to hear the answer. Anti-Cosmo looked at the little girl for a moment, before turning back to stare out the window. When he finally replied, his voice was strained and soft.

“Yes.”

Confusion and disbelief battled inside Wanda’s mind. Could she really allow herself to believe that Anti-Cosmo was different? That he wasn’t the same evil genius who had taken such delight in throwing the entire earth into complete chaos? That somehow he was actually capable of caring for others? Technically, even though he had kidnapped Tabby, he hadn’t harmed her at all. On the contrary, he had actually kept her from harm just a moment ago. Wanda didn’t think he had done it for ulterior motives—he hadn’t seemed to be showing off—it looked like it he had grabbed Tabby out of unthinking reflex.

So what did all this mean?

“Do you want me to wish her here?” Tabby was saying, giving Anti-Cosmo’s pantleg a gentle tug. “I will if you want me to.” The anti-fairy smiled—actually smiled—at the little girl, and patted her head.

“It’s quite all right, my dear,” he said, his voice soft. “I already know where she is and, unfortunately, you cannot simply wish her free.”

“Oh,” Tabby said, lowering her head. “Sorry, Uncle Ace.” Anti-Cosmo gave the girl another shockingly genuine smile.

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” he said, drawing another shocked look from Wanda. “I’ll figure out a way to free her. Go on and get down now, okay? I think your Mama-Wanda is worried about you.”

Tabby nodded and began making her way down the stack as Anti-Cosmo floated down to where Wanda was standing. His arms were crossed and he looked ready for a verbal onslaught.

“Judging by the look of utter shock on your face, I assume you heard everything? Fine, yes, I admit it. I love my wife unconditionally and am terrified that the muscle-head of a superior of yours has harmed her. And you are correct, by now she is probably back in Anti-Fairy Prison, most likely under heavy guard in case I appear to free her. Which I will. Being free is a hollow victory if my beloved Anti-Wanda is not beside me to enjoy it.”

Before Wanda could respond, a loud cracking emanated from the stack of decayed crates behind him. Tabby uttered a surprised “OH!” before the stack collapsed beneath her, sending her tumbling in a cloud of splinters and dust. Anti-Cosmo raised his wand before Wanda even knew he was moving, immediately poofing Tabby out of danger and to the spot right between himself and Wanda.

“Wow,” Tabby said, smiling slightly and shaking the dust and bits of wood from her hair. “That was neat!”

“Are you all right, sweetie?” Wanda asked worriedly, taking Tabby’s face into her hands and examining for cuts. The little girl looked back, confused.

“I’m fine,” she said in a ‘what’s-the-matter-with-you’ tone of voice. When Wanda continued to examine the girl for injury, Tabby uttered an annoyed sigh and shook herself out of the fairy’s hands. “Wanda, I’m fine! Yeesh!”

“Spirited child,” Anti-Cosmo said with a small smirk. Wanda looked up at him sharply, causing the smirk to transform into a sneer. The look on his face told her that he was ready and waiting for her next insult.

“Thank you,” she said instead, and kept from sneering herself through intense concentration. He may have been Anti-Cosmo, and she may not like him very much, but he had also kept her goddaughter from getting hurt. Twice, in fact. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

The sneer on Anti-Cosmo’s face slipped away, leaving shock in its stead. He hadn’t expected that. Slowly the shocked expression changed, this time to one of confusion. Apparently, even HE was confused by his actions.

“I’m hungry,” Tabby said suddenly, making Anti-Cosmo jump slightly. He and Wanda glanced down at the little girl before looking back at each other. Wanda offered him a slight shrug.

“Don’t look at me,” she said, perching her hands on her hips. “You’re the one with the magic.”

With a sigh and an eye roll, Anti-Cosmo raised his wand.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmo and Anti-Wanda have a chat.

Cosmo sat cross-legged in front of Anti-Wanda’s prison cell. He had followed the soldiers as they dragged her in, unlocking her heavy shackles only once she was inside the cell. Then the soldiers had left, and a heavy glass-like door had clamped shut tightly, the sharp ‘CLANG!’ of the lock echoing loudly about the prison as it fell into place.

The anti-fairy herself also sat on the floor, in the middle of her dark cell, hugging her legs tightly and resting her forehead on her knees. Every so often she would rock back and forth slightly, as though comforting herself. She wasn’t crying—at least not that Cosmo could tell—but she was obviously still quite upset.

“Do you want to talk?” the little green haired fairy called softly, not quite sure why he had spoken at all. Actually, he wasn’t really sure why he was there in the first place, but supposed it was better than going home. What exactly was waiting for him except an empty house?

Anti-Wanda made no motion that she had heard. Her shoulders rose and fell slowly, and Cosmo heard her sigh heavily.

“Do you want some water?” Cosmo asked, hoping that the gesture would help her open up as it had in the interrogation room. He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d get the water to her even if she did accept, as the solid prison door would have prevented him entrance, but thought the offer might be nice anyway.

“I want my husband,” Anti-Wanda said quietly, her head still resting on her knees. The shield around the cell carried her voice perfectly to Cosmo, who grimaced slightly at the sadness held within it.

“I—I can’t do that,” he said softly, absently rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. “Sorry.”

“I want things to be like they were before,” she said, and now it sounded as though she were crying. “Before any of this. Before I opened my stupid mouth.”

Cosmo sat quietly, watching the anti-fairy version of his wife cry silently in her prison cell. He had no idea why she was so upset, but doubted it actually had anything to do with her present incarcerated state. Her sobs seemed too heavy, too filled with grief to simply be a result of the separation from her husband and current imprisonment. This seemed to be a much deeper sorrow. One she was unfortunately very familiar with.

“Did . . .” Cosmo started hesitantly, wanting to ask but fearful of upsetting her further. “Did AC take Tabby because you wanted a godchild?”

Anti-Wanda raised her head so suddenly that Cosmo jerked back slightly, momentarily startled. Her blue cheeks were wet with tears, and she wiped them away quickly, almost roughly.

“He didn’t understand,” she said as she resumed hugging her legs. “I tried to explain it, but no matter what I said, he never really understood. He thought he could just fix things, make me feel better by getting us a godchild, but it wasn’t right, and I knew it wasn’t right, but he was so sure things would turn out okay and I trusted him because he’s a genius, but not about this, he just doesn’t understand about this, but I don’t think it’s his fault, I think it’s because I’m a woman and he’s not, but that doesn’t matter now because I’m here and he’s not and we’re both in so much trouble and it’s all because I didn’t keep my big stupid mouth shut! I’M SO STUPID!”

With a loud sob, Anti-Wanda plunged her hands into her hair and yanked on her scalp, rocking herself back and forth in an attempt to calm. Tears were streaming down her cheeks in rivers, regardless of how tightly she closed her eyes against them. This whole situation was entirely her fault, and she knew it.

Outside her cell, Cosmo had inched himself closer to the see-through door, and now pressed his hands against it, peering inside at the weeping anti-fairy. His sympathetic nature overrode any predisposed prejudices he had against anti-fairies, and now all his body was telling him was to hold her, caress her hair, rock her gently and take some of her sadness away. Love or romantic feelings had nothing to do with it—all he saw was another creature in pain, one that he could very closely identify with, and he wanted to make her feel better. The fact that she looked so much like his wife made these urges to help her that much more persistent. Especially her eyes. The depth of the sadness he had seen in them very nearly made him cry out, just like the last time he had seen it there.

Wait a minute. The last time? This was the first time he had ever truly interacted with Anti-Wanda, so how could he compare the look in her eyes to ‘the last time’?

A memory suddenly flashed, one of his wife laying on her bed, her pink cheeks wet with tears and her large pink eyes full of the same pain and sadness that he had just seen in Anti-Wanda’s eyes just a moment ago. He remembered that day, all those years ago, when Wanda had come home from the doctor. He remembered what the doctor had told her. And he remembered how upset and shattered she had been. The day she learned she would never have children.

Pieces fell into place with an almost audible ‘click’ in Cosmo’s mind, and now he looked back at the anti-fairy in the cell before him. Anti-Wanda was still rocking back and forth slightly, but she had chosen to hug herself tightly instead of her legs. Her eyes were still tightly clamped shut, but those stubborn tears were still flowing endlessly down her cheeks.

“You,” he said quietly, carefully choosing each word so as not to upset her even more. “You can’t have children.” Anti-Wanda stopped to stare at Cosmo in mid-rock, her eyes wide and full of shock. The green haired fairy swallowed nervously, daring to push on. “You were sad because you couldn’t have a baby, so AC took Tabby to help you feel better.”

“H—How did you know that?” the anti-fairy whispered harshly, shaking her head slowly back and forth. “You can’t know that.”

“Your eyes,” Cosmo said as Anti-Wanda slowly crawled toward the door. She stopped and sat just like him—resting on her ankles, her legs tucked beneath her, and her hands pressed lightly against the door. “Wanda had the exact same look a long time ago . . . when she found out she couldn’t have kids either,” he finished quietly.

They sat silently for a few moments, allowing the unintentional confessions to sink in fully. As opposite as they were—male and female, fairy and anti-fairy—some things were just too similar to overlook. Their comparable intelligence, for one. Their relatively simple and open minds, for another. But the biggest and perhaps most important similarity Cosmo and Anti-Wanda shared was the total and unending devotion and adoration they held for the one person they loved more than any other. For Wanda and Anti-Cosmo, respectively.

“Does being a godparent help you and Wanda deal better with . . . it?” Anti-Wanda asked quietly, her head titled slightly, almost shyly. Cosmo cocked his own head to the side as he thought for a moment, before slowly nodding.

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “I think it does. I know Wanda loves it—she loves to be with the kids and ‘mother’ them.” Anti-Wanda offered her husband’s colorful copy a confused look.

“What about you?”

“Why would she ‘mother’ me?” Cosmo asked with a slight shrug, looking confused himself. Anti-Wanda shook her head.

“No, I mean does being a godfather help you deal with never having your own?”

“My own godfather?” he asked, the confused look intensifying. Anti-Wanda laughed slightly, making Cosmo smile. At least she wasn’t crying anymore.

“No, your own kids,” the anti-fairy replied, a small smile still on her lips. “Does having godkids help you deal with not having kids of your own?”

“Oh, I get it,” Cosmo said, nodding. “Yeah, I guess so. I never really thought about it before. Playing with the kids can be a lot of fun!”

Cosmo smiled as memories of past godchildren flittered quickly through his mind, reminding him of baseball games and afternoon adventures. In fact, he was so preoccupied in his reminiscing, that he never registered Anti-Wanda’s thoughtful gaze upon him. She regarded him with a slightly furrowed brow, as though she were watching a movie that required a slightly higher amount of concentration than she was used to giving.

“You don’t care that you can’t have kids,” she said after a long moment’s contemplation, and Cosmo immediately stopped smiling to stare at her in shock.

“WHAT??”

“You don’t care that you can’t have kids,” Anti-Wanda repeated, crossing her arms and looking annoyed. “You’re just like Anti-Cosmo. You don’t understand anything!”

“Now wait just a darn minute here!” Cosmo cried, jumping to his feet and angrily poking his finger into the glass. “You don’t know anything about me! How can you say I don’t understand? We can’t have kids either!”

“WANDA can’t have kids!” Anti-Wanda shouted, getting to her feet and angrily poking a finger back. “You can’t possibly understand what she’s going through or how she feels about it!”

“I can try!” he shouted back, throwing his hands over his head. “But no, maybe I won’t be able to completely understand EVERYTHING about how she’s feeling, but I can try and I can do anything and everything I can to help her feel better, because I love her and that’s what people in love do for each other! Isn’t that pretty much why AC took Tabby in the first place? He saw how upset you were about the whole thing and tried to make you feel better by giving you a kid to mother!”

“I didn’t want him to kidnap anybody, I just wanted him to understand!” she cried, pounding her fists on the door hard enough to make it shudder against the frame. A buzzer began to sound after the third strike, and Anti-Wanda suddenly cried out as a strong jolt of electricity flowed through her body where her fists still touched the door. The force of the bolt kicked her away from the door, and she fell heavily to the ground, curling her burned hands into her chest.

“Anti-Wanda!” Cosmo exclaimed, his anger suddenly gone as concern replaced it. “Are you okay?” The anti-fairy whimpered softly, slowly rolling herself into a sitting position.

“Oww,” she moaned, raising her hands enough to examine them. “That hurt!”

“It must be how they control the meaner prisoners,” Cosmo said quietly as her hands began to slowly heal. “But at least we’re fast healers.”

The two sat silently for a few minutes, watching as Anti-Wanda’s burnt hands slowly healed themselves. Once all the burnt skin had flaked away, she gave her hands an experimental flex, as though to assure herself they still worked. Then she slowly worked her way back towards the door to face Cosmo.

“Don’t touch the door,” the green haired fairy warned. Anti-Wanda shook her head.

“I won’t. I think it only shocks you when you pound on it.”

“Don’t touch it anyway, okay?”

“Okay.”

Silence returned for a full minute before Cosmo spoke next, and when he did, his voice was soft.

“Anti-Cosmo may be a genius, but he’s still a guy, and I think guys just think differently. When Wanda found out she couldn’t have a baby, she was really, really sad. I was sad too, but I don’t think it was for all the same reasons. Yes, I was really sad that I would never be a daddy, but as long as Wanda stays with me, I can deal with that. Wanda is THE most important thing in the entire universe to me. I might not completely understand how she’s feeling or why she feels that way, but I try to, and do everything I can to help her feel better. Sometimes, it’s all I can do.”

Anti-Wanda sat quietly for a moment when Cosmo finished, her head lowered slightly as she thought about all he had said. While it was true that her husband didn’t seem to fully comprehend her feelings regarding the matter, he was very attentive to her needs, wants and desires, no matter how small or trivial. He would—and had in the past—risk his own safety and freedom in order to keep her happy, and his latest actions, misguided though they may have been, had been all for the sake of her happiness.

No, he didn’t fully understand her feelings regarding this matter, but maybe he didn’t really need to. Maybe his love was enough.

“I never wanted him to kidnap your godchild,” she said quietly, shaking her head slightly. “I never even asked him to. I just sometimes get to thinking about you guys and wondered who you were godparenting now. I remembered Timmy and how close you were, and that got me thinking about how we’ll never have any kids in our lives, and that made me sad. When I talked to Anti-Cosmo about it, I thought he understood. But I guess not.”

“I don’t think he’s ever going to understand the way you want him to,” Cosmo said softly. “But I do think he really loves you. He wouldn’t have kidnapped Tabby and started all this trouble if he didn’t. Just . . . cut him some slack, okay? Just because he doesn’t understand doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.”

Before Anti-Wanda had a chance to respond, a loud click sounded and Jorgen’s impatient voice boomed from the prison’s intercom.

“COSMO!” the voice bellowed, and the little green haired fairy jumped. “Stop fraternizing with the prisoner! We will contact you once we have found your wife and godchild. There is nothing more you can do here. GO HOME!”

“I’d better go,” he said, almost apologetically. “I hope this all gets settled soon, before anyone gets hurt.”

Cosmo began floating toward the exit when Anti-Wanda called his name. He turned back and found her standing inside her cell, a small smile on her lips.

“I’m sorry all this happened,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “But I’m glad you stayed with me. Thanks.” He shrugged, a small smile curling his own lips.

“Hey, no problem. Glad I could help.”

The smile was still on Cosmo’s lips when he walked out of the prison and onto the cloud that supported it. Talking to Anti-Wanda had helped him see anti-fairies in a new light—well, maybe not ALL anti-fairies, but at least his and his wife’s. He no longer feared for Wanda’s or Tabby’s safety, because now he felt he knew more about Anti-Cosmo’s motivations. Everything he had done had been for his wife. Anyone who cared that much for someone couldn’t be all bad. Right?

The smile faltered slightly as he lifted his wand to return home.

Right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and Anti-Cosmo conduct a civil conversation. And it's adorable.

While Cosmo followed the group of fairy soldiers as they led a bound Anti-Wanda to the Anti-Fairy Prison, Wanda sat on the floor of the old warehouse and watched her husband’s dark duplicate. After conjuring some food for Tabby, Anti-Cosmo had resumed his spot in front of the dirty window and was once again staring at nothing in particular.

If he had a plan, he certainly didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry.

A soft whimper from Wanda’s right drew her attention momentarily, as Tabby rolled over in her sleep. After eating her fill of the cheese sandwiches Anti-Cosmo had made, the little girl had sat with her godmother for a while before dozing off. Wanda wasn’t terribly surprised—it was pretty late and it had been a long day. Since her goddaughter had fallen asleep, the little pink haired fairy had been sitting where she was now, just watching Anti-Cosmo. And thinking.

He was an anti-fairy, possibly the most brilliant anti-fairy in existence. He had snuck into her home, kidnapped her godchild, and now she herself was his hostage. He stole her wand, and was basically keeping them prisoner while he floated up there, staring out the window.

But.

He hadn’t harmed Tabby, instead keeping her from harm on two separate occasions. He seemed sincerely upset at the thought of his wife in Jorgen’s hands, and had admitted that he loved her and would gladly sacrifice himself and his freedom in order to keep her safe.

And dang it if Wanda didn’t find all that at least somewhat admirable.

With a soft sigh, Wanda got to her feet and walked towards Anti-Cosmo. She stopped at nearly the same spot Tabby had a little while ago, and looked up at the floating dark fairy. If Anti-Cosmo knew she was there, he made no sign.

“Hey,” she called softly, not wanting the echo of her voice to wake her sleeping godchild. “Anti-Cosmo?” The anti-fairy above her glanced down at her, an eyebrow raised.

“I’m surprised you’re able to utter my name without choking,” he remarked, turning back to the window. “As repulsed as you are by my very existence.”

Wanda frowned. She deserved that.

“May I come up?” she asked, drawing another raised eyebrow from her husband’s dark doppelganger.

“My my, aren’t we polite all of a sudden,” he muttered with a soft laugh. “What’s brought about this incredibly suspicious change in attitude, I wonder?” The laugh died in his throat when he noticed Wanda floating up towards him. “Now I see where your goddaughter developed the very bad habit of asking a question and acting before getting an answer.”

“I wanted to talk to you, but I don’t want Tabby to hear,” she said once she was level with him. Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes as he turned back to the window.

“I take it you wouldn’t want to add the no doubt long list of vulgarities you’re about to hurl at me to the child’s vocabulary,” he said before uttering a heavy sigh. “Well, let’s have it, then. I’ve far too much thinking to do to waste time arguing with you.”

Angry comebacks leapt immediately to the front of Wanda’s mind, and she clamped her teeth onto her tongue in an attempt to keep them back. He was on the defensive because she had put him there. She had no right to get angry about it. Besides, this wasn’t what she had come up for.

“What I mean is,” she began, talking slowly through her clenched teeth. “Tabby’s asleep and I don’t want our talking to wake her. She’s just a little girl and needs her rest.”

“She had a nap earlier,” Anti-Cosmo responded without turning. Wanda blinked, startled.

“What? When?”

“After we left the Records Vault,” he replied, still gazing out the window. “My darling wife put the child to sleep as she transported us to our previous home. The excitement of the day and all.”

“Oh.”

Wanda floated silently for a moment, studying Anti-Cosmo. This was getting a little surreal. These anti-fairies were not acting the way anti-fairies were supposed to. Bad luck should be all anti-fairies think about, not putting an emotionally tired child down for a nap. Where was the big scheme to wreck havoc upon the earth? Where was the brilliant plan to free all the other anti-fairies?

Where was the Anti-Cosmo Wanda could easily despise without a second thought?

“You really do care about your wife, don’t you?” she asked quietly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Anti-Cosmo turned to her then, his face practically glowing with annoyance.

“Of course I care about her!” he hissed, making Wanda unconsciously withdraw slightly. “She’s my wife! Don’t you care about that husband of yours?”

“Well of course I do!” she shot back, hands planted on her hips as she flew closer again. “But that’s different!”

An angry snarl crossed Anti-Cosmo’s face.

“Why? Because you’re fairies and it’s permitted? Whereas my wife and I are anti-fairies, so OF COURSE we aren’t capable of any emotions whatsoever, least of all actual LOVE for anything but ourselves and the misfortune we cause!” He turned away again, returning his gaze to the window. His face was still pulled into an angry frown. “I honestly expected you to be less ignorant, Wanda. It’s always disappointing when I’m shown to be incorrect, but it’s especially disappointing in this case.”

Wanda could do nothing but offer the anti-fairy a dumbfounded stare. Yes, she was expecting some sort of angry outburst from him at some point, but nothing in her experiences with anti-fairies could have prepared her for something like THAT. He had sounded . . . hurt. She had hurt his feelings by insinuating that he shouldn’t care about his wife just because they were anti-fairies. Now that she thought about it, she realized just how thoughtless and rude such a comment was, no matter who it was directed at.

Honestly, she only knew the barest things about anti-fairies in the first place, so making assumptions regarding the existence or depth of their emotions was pretty foolish all around.

Of course, she’d also be pretty foolish to not at least entertain the notion that all this was simply part of a more elaborate plan designed to free all the anti-fairies, throw the earth into utter chaos and overthrow Fairy World in the process. Anti-Cosmo WAS an evil genius, after all.

But deep down, Wanda didn’t really believe he had some bigger plan. His reactions to her had been much too real to simply be an act, especially earlier when he had realized his wife was missing. The panic on his face was unmistakable, as well as the worry etched in his voice. The old Anti-Cosmo—meaning the one they had first met when Timmy released all the anti-fairies on Friday the 13th—might have expressed annoyance at such a wrinkle being introduced to his plan, not fear and worry. Such strong emotions could not be so easily faked.

This Anti-Cosmo, Wanda finally admitted to herself, was definitely not the same anti-fairy that Timmy had released all those years ago.

“I—I’m sorry.”

Anti-Cosmo turned to her, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“Excuse me?”

“You were right,” Wanda said, her voice soft and quiet. “I WAS being ignorant, in every sense of the word. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on what little I know of you, and anti-fairies in general. So I apologize. Sincerely.”

A number of emotions rolled across Anti-Cosmo’s face at Wanda’s apology—shock and disbelief of course, curiosity, embarrassment, and finally confusion. This last expression stayed as he turned back to the window, his cheeks turning slightly darker as a blush surfaced.

“N-no need to apologize,” he stammered softly, not daring to look at Wanda. “There was a time not too long ago when you might have been correct in your assumptions. Anti-fairies ARE the exact opposite of fairies, after all. It only stands to reason that we would be less prone to the more . . . positive of emotions.”

“But you’re not like the other anti-fairies are you?” Wanda asked quietly, floating slowly closer. “Not anymore. Not since your operation with Cosmo to switch your fagiggly glands.”

Anti-Cosmo grimaced.

“That blasted gland!” he whispered harshly, clenching his hands into tight fists. “This all started when I received that confounded gland!”

“It changed you, didn’t it? After all this time, it’s changed you. Made you less . . . well, less anti-fairy-ish.”

“It’s made me an outcast!” Anti-Cosmo hissed hatefully. “I no longer hold the same passion for causing mayhem and misfortune as I once did, and my wife has become more important to me than ever before. The little things that used to annoy me about her, I now find endearing and—heaven help me—charming!”

“You love her!” Wanda said, a smile on her lips. “There’s no mystery or shame in that.”

Anti-Cosmo shook his head urgently. “Not like this, Wanda, this is different. I loved her before but not like this, never like this!” he said quickly, the words almost pushing their way out. Now that he had someone who could possibly understand what he had been going through all these years, it was if a dam had suddenly burst. “My life used to be ruled by plots, schemes and plans of all sorts to free all the anti-fairies and set them loose upon the earth. But now, now all I can think of is my wife and keeping her safe and happy. I had tried many, many times to free her from that blasted prison in the years I’ve been free, and in those years the rest of my kind has come to hate me.”

Wanda offered him a confused expression. “Why? Because you took so long to free her?”

“Because I tried for so long to free ONLY her,” he corrected, his voice a harsh whisper. “Never once did it ever cross my mind to attempt an all out prison break. Never once had I ever considered freeing the rest of them. It was all for her. I wanted my wife by my side. I . . . I needed my wife by my side.” He turned away from Wanda then, slightly embarrassed by his sudden confession. “This . . . change has made the rest of the anti-fairies hate me. They call me a traitor because they used to look to me for leadership and guidance and now all I care about is Anti-Wanda.”

He was quiet for a moment, and Wanda let him have all the time he needed to continue.

“I need to free her, Wanda. I fear for her safety,” he said softly. “I fear that muscle-headed superior of yours will continue to torture her in an attempt to locate me . . .” He paused, and when he continued next his voice was even softer. “But I think what frightens me more is what the other anti-fairies would do to her if they ever get the chance.”

Wanda gasped silently. “You think they’d hurt her? But they’re mad at you, aren’t they?”

“During each of my attempts to free her, I heard rumors, passed from cell to cell. They don’t know about my operation. They think she’s the cause of my strange behavior. They think . . .” He sighed, and Wanda had an idea he might have been struggling to hold back tears. “They think that if they remove her from the equation, I’d return to normal.”

“That’s . . . that’s horrible,” Wanda muttered, her face pale.

Anti-Cosmo whirled around with, surprisingly, a satisfied smile. “That’s why I doubled my resolve and tripled my efforts, and the very next attempt was successful!” he said, puffing his chest out proudly. “Finally, after evading capture for so long, I felt completely free! My wife was by my side once again, where I could protect her and care for her properly. I . . . I don’t believe I had ever felt so happy.”

Wanda couldn’t help but smile. Seeing Anti-Cosmo express such happiness and elation helped reaffirm her belief that he had changed. Slowly her smile faded as a thought struck.

“So,” she began, pulling him from his happy memory. “Why would you risk that freedom by kidnapping a godchild? You had to have known that you’d be pursued.”

He sighed. “It would seem that I’m not the only one who has changed,” he said softly as he turned back to the window. “Not long ago—seven years, perhaps—my wife began talking about . . . children.” Wanda winced, but said nothing. “She was so excited at the thought of having one of our own, and the idea eventually grew on me as well. Besides, I loved her and wanted to give her what she desired. So we tried. And we tried. But no matter what . . .” He finished with a shrug.

“She can’t, can she?” Wanda whispered, tears pricking the back of her eyes. Anti-Cosmo turned to her quickly, his eyes wide with shock. “She can’t because I can’t.”

Wanda blinked quickly, trying to rid herself of these hateful tears. She could try to fool herself into thinking they were shed on behalf of Anti-Wanda’s plight, but knew, deep down, they were for herself and her own sentence of infertility. Her self-centered thinking disgusted her, and she wiped her cheeks quickly, hoping this self-pity would dissipate as swiftly as it had settled upon her.

A gentle hand suddenly appeared on her shoulder and she jumped slightly, looking up into the compassionate eyes of her husband’s dark double.

“My apologies,” he said gently, a guilty smile on his lips. “Re-opening painful memories was not my intention.”

She offered him a small smile as the rest of her tears—thankfully—dried up.

“It’s not your fault,” she said, quickly wiping her cheeks dry. “I’ve had a long time to deal with it, but sometimes the emotions still blindside me. I’ll be okay, but I can certainly identify with your wife on this one. Very closely, unfortunately. I’m sorry she had to experience it, too.”

“It would appear that we are all more alike than we previously thought,” Anti-Cosmo said as he pulled back. One corner of his mouth pulled up into a half-smirk. “Or would admit to.”

Wanda returned his smirk with one of her own. “So it would seem. Please continue.”

“Well, to be perfectly honest, the bottom line is this—my wife was sad at our lot in life, so I wanted to do something to try and make her happy again,” he said, ending with a slight shrug. “A godchild seemed the most logical way to help her fulfill her ‘mothering instincts’, and since I couldn’t exactly go to Jorgen and ask for one, I thought of you.”

“So instead of just coming to us and asking if you could get to know Tabby and possibly visit, you decided that the best course of action was to kidnap her?” Wanda asked with a raised eyebrow. “Really, Anti-Cosmo, I would have thought you’d be smarter than that.”

Anti-Cosmo raised his own eyebrow at her. “So you would have thrown the front door wide open and welcomed us in with open arms?” he countered, crossing his arms across his chest. “Really, Wanda, I would have thought you’d be smarter than that.”

The pink haired fairy offered him a half smile. “Touché,” she said, crossing her own arms. “You’re right. I probably would have tossed you out on your ear.”

“If I was lucky,” he said with a smirk.

Wanda laughed slightly. “And if I was in a good mood,” she added, making the anti-fairy chuckle.

An awkward silence fell over the two then, and Wanda turned to check on Tabby. Once assured that the little girl was still sleeping comfortably, she turned back, and found her wand in Anti-Cosmo’s outstretched arm.

“What . . ?”

“This has gone too far,” he said quietly. “Take the girl and return home. My only priority now is to find a way to free my wife. I apologize for all the trouble.”

“Jorgen probably has security pretty beefed up, you know,” she replied, slowly taking her wand back. “Assuming you got in, you’d most likely never get out.”

He offered her a slight shrug and tired smile. “If I cannot free her, then I will allow myself to be captured. If she must remain imprisoned, she will see her husband in the cell beside her. At least then I can watch over her and do my best to keep her safe.”

Wanda couldn’t think straight. Warring thoughts battled inside her head, pulling her in two separate directions. Part of her, the part that was raised to distrust and hate anti-fairies no matter what, screamed at her to hurry back to Tabby and get out of there before Anti-Cosmo changed his mind.

But another part, the part that was greatly overshadowing the first part, urged her to do something. He’d never make it by himself, but if he had help, there was a chance that he and his wife could both escape safely.

But did she truly want to help an anti-fairy break his wife out of the strongest prison ever built in Fairy World history?

Anti-Cosmo suddenly reached forward and gently pulled Wanda’s left hand to him, catching the pink haired fairy completely off guard. She raised her wand, more of an automatic reaction than anything, and watched with wide eyes as he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

“I’m glad we could have such a civil conversation, Wanda,” he said as he sandwiched her hand between his. “And I appreciate your concern. Thank you. Goodbye.” He raised his wand and the tip glowed slightly.

Wanda chose.

“WAIT!” she cried as she grabbed Anti-Cosmo’s wand and yanked it out of his hand.

He stared at her, honestly confused. “What in blazes . . . ?”

“Do you want help?” she asked, pointing her wand at him.

His eyes flicked from the starry tip of her weapon to her narrowed pink eyes. “What?”

“Do. You. Want. Help?” she repeated, carefully enunciating each word. “Alone you probably won’t have much of a chance in freeing your wife, but you just might make it with help. Do you want any? I won’t ask again.”

“Y—You’d help ME?” he asked, looking more confused than ever. “Why on earth would you do that?”

She offered a small shrug. “I don’t know if I completely trust you yet, but I believe you’re not the same anti-fairy I remember. That anti-fairy wouldn’t be so eager to rush into what was obviously a trap to save his wife. He’d never be so self-sacrificing. So. What’s your choice?”

Anti-Cosmo cast one more flick between the tip of Wanda’s wand to her now not-so-narrowed pink eyes. Her face bore an expression of determination so similar to the one he sometimes saw on his wife, he offered her a small smile.

His choice, it would seem, was crystal clear.

“Yes,” he whispered, the smile growing. “I would greatly appreciate the assistance. Thank you.”

Wanda shook her head as she lowered her wand. “Don’t thank me yet,” she sighed as they flew down to collect Tabby. “We still need a plan, and there’s a whole bunch of ways this could all fail miserably.”

“Mmmm . . . wha?” Tabby muttered as Anti-Cosmo lifted the groggy girl into his arms.

Wanda smiled as she grasped the girl’s hand. “It’s okay sweetie,” she said as she lifted her wand. “We’re going home.”

The sleepy child smiled wearily, nodding her head heavily. “Oh . . . good,” she finished with a yawn before resting her head against Anti-Cosmo’s chest and falling back to sleep. The anti-fairy blushed as Wanda’s wand flashed.

She wondered just how she’d explain this to her husband.

_**-X-X-X-** _

Cosmo slowly flew through the house, frowning at the deafening silence. Tabby’s parents were off . . . somewhere for the next week or so, and Tabby hadn’t had any actual nannies for at least two weeks. He wondered when—if—her parents would realize they had been leaving their child ‘alone’ for the past month.

He floated upstairs and into Tabby’s room, and stared at her bed sadly. She apparently hadn’t made it this morning, because it was lumpy and the covers were askew. Wanda would have to remind her about keeping her room neat.

The little green haired fairy sighed and sat heavily on the edge of the messy bed. This morning. Everyone was still here, then. It seemed so long ago.

The sound of a flushing toilet drew him from his mope, and Cosmo leapt off the bed wide-eyed and clutching his wand tightly. Had a burglar broken into the house while they were all away? Why on earth would he use the toilet way up here when there was a bathroom downstairs? Would he wash his hands before touching anything else?

Before this train of thought could lead him who knows how far away from the actual point, he heard soft footfalls in the hallway. They were heading towards the bedroom. Cosmo panicked.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll . . . I’ll . . .” His mind went blank. The door began to swing open and Cosmo gasped, pressing his hands against his mouth.

“Hi Cosmo,” Tabby said groggily as she padded her way back to her bed. In his complete shock, the little green haired fairy slowly dropped back down and sat heavily on the bed with a soft ‘whump’.

“Tabby??” he managed to squeak as the little girl placed a sleepy kiss on his cheek before crawling back beneath the covers.

“Night Cosmo,” she yawned before rolling over and falling back to sleep. He stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape.

“Cosmo,” a voice called from behind him, and he spun around quickly, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

“Wanda!” he cried as he flew into her outstretched arms. He peppered her cheeks with kisses and sealed their lips together for a grand finale. “Oh Wanda, I’m so glad you’re home and safe! How did you get away from AC? Did he hurt you? Where were you guys? Is Tabby oka—“

Wanda placed a gentle hand on his mouth, a loving smile on her lips.

“Slow down, sweetie,” she said as she led him towards the dollhouse. “There’s a lot I need to tell you.” Confusion spread across his face like a shadow.

“Okay,” he said slowly as Wanda poofed them into their secret home. They appeared in the kitchen, which had been magically ‘renovated’ to more closely resemble a real, working room. What Cosmo saw when they appeared made him cry out.

“YOU!” he hissed, pointing accusingly at Anti-Cosmo and pushing his wife behind him. “Look out, Wanda! He followed you!”

His dark double jumped up from his seat at the table and backed away as Cosmo brandished his wand threateningly. The green haired fairy regarded Anti-Cosmo with narrowed eyes, the tip of his wand pulsating steadily.

“Cosmo, calm down!” Wanda soothed, gently lowering her husband’s arm. “It’s okay. He didn’t follow me, I brought him here.”

The anger in Cosmo’s face disappeared as confusion replaced it. “What? Wanda, why would you do that?”

“Because . . . well, honey there’s a lot I need to explain,” she said as she gently led her husband toward the living room. Before passing through the archway, she called over to Anti-Cosmo, “We’ll be back in a few minutes, go ahead and make yourself comfortable.”

“Certainly,” he responded before they disappeared from sight. “Thank you.”

The anti-fairy sat back down at the table as the muffled voices of his counterpart and his wife wafted through the air. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but judging by the tone, Cosmo was still confused as Wanda tried to sooth him. He imagined it was going to take a little longer than ‘a few minutes’.

With a sigh, Anti-Cosmo sat back in his chair, absently sticking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. The fingertips of his right hand brushed gingerly against an old piece of parchment, and he paused. Sure that Cosmo and Wanda were still occupied in the other room, and would be for some time, Anti-Cosmo carefully pulled the paper from his pocket, and gently unfolded it.

Wanda had not thought to ask about the missing file from the Records Vault. In truth, he himself had almost forgotten about it. But now that he held it in his hands, once again reading the faded words on the decaying paper, he felt hope blossom within his black heart. Hope for success. Success in freeing not only his wife, but also every other anti-fairy, thereby regaining their trust and allegiance.

It didn’t matter that Wanda trusted him—if only slightly—and had offered to help save his wife. It didn’t matter that she would no doubt talk Cosmo into also helping, and most likely enlist the aid of her goddaughter as well. All the better, actually. It would all help Anti-Cosmo regain what he once had. Before that blasted operation. Before he began to change. Before he began to care more than an anti-fairy should.

And that’s all that mattered to Anti-Cosmo, right?

He glanced toward the doorway, where the voices of the fairies still floated to him.

Right?

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is concocted. More chatting. And a possible double cross.

The magical beings of the house talked long into the night, concocting, considering and canning plan after plan to free Anti-Wanda. Cosmo had taken surprisingly little convincing to help, mostly due to how much time he had actually spent with his wife’s double. He wasn’t sure if he specifically LIKED Anti-Wanda, but was sure he didn’t DISLIKE her, so saw no harm in helping to free her.

His own counterpart he was more neutral towards, mostly because he was still sore at being tricked yesterday.

Finally, at approximately 4 am, after hours of careful plotting, a plan was agreed upon. Admittedly, it wasn’t a very good one, but considering they only had two fairies, an anti-fairy and a human child to work with, it was the best that had been considered all night.

“If this fails, Jorgen will be rather cross with you,” Anti-Cosmo had said in the midst of the brain-storming. “Are you sure you want to risk your current positions as godparents? It’s possible he’d toss you right into the prison right along with me.”

“That prison is for the evil anti-fairies who would delight in nothing more than causing havoc on earth,” Wanda answered quietly after a long moment’s thought. “You’ve been free for a long time, and I haven’t really noticed a dramatic increase in suspicious, anti-fairy type chaos. As difficult as it is for me to admit, I do believe you’ve changed. And I don’t believe your wife could be classified as ‘dangerous’, so it’s only fair that she’s free too.”

“Besides,” Cosmo added with a slight smile. “If we get caught we can always say Tabby wished for the whole thing.”

Anti-Cosmo jerked slightly, startled at such a remark. He cast a sideways glance at Wanda, and was surprised to find her nodding.

“He’d believe a story like that?” he asked.

Wanda shrugged. “We’ve had somewhat troublesome godchildren in the past,” she said with a wave of her hand. “And Tabby’s only six. She seems to like you so it would really make sense that she would wish for us to free Anti-Wanda.” A troubled look clouded the anti-fairy’s face just then, and Wanda furrowed her brow. “What’s wrong?”

Anti-Cosmo blinked, forcing a smile. “N-nothing,” he said quietly. “I’m simply . . . w-worried about my darling wife.”

Wanda offered him an understanding nod, her eyes gentle. “I’m sure she’s all right,” she said softly, a kind smile on her lips. “We’ll do our best to get her out before anything happens. Don’t worry.”

Anti-Cosmo offered her a weak smile before she turned back to Cosmo to re-affirm the layout of the prison.

‘Worry’ wasn’t the little nagging creature poking the back of Anti-Cosmo’s mind. It was a fairly newly acquired emotion, and he supposed it was actually better described as ‘guilt’

_**-X-X-X-** _

Cosmo yawned widely, rubbing his tired eyes. He had gotten precious little sleep this morning, and it made his thinking foggier than usual. The intense emotions of yesterday’s events, combined with the hours of careful plotting and planning last night/this morning had worn him out, and he was functioning on only about four hours of sleep. Another yawn escaped him, and he decided he would probably lay down with Tabby later today when she took her nap. If they were going to try a prison break later tonight, he would need to be more awake than this.

Although Wanda had only gotten the same amount of sleep as her husband, she seemed none the worse for wear. She was currently across the room from Cosmo—who was sitting on the floor against wall, too tired to even hover—trying to explain to the little girl her part in the plan. Wanda had never even hesitated including Tabby, something that actually took Cosmo by surprise. She must trust Anti-Cosmo more than she let on.

A soft ‘poof’ drew Cosmo from his slow thinking, and he turned slightly to see his dark duplicate floating slowly toward him. The anti-fairy was looking toward the girls, wearing an expression Cosmo couldn’t quite decipher.

“Your wife,” Anti-Cosmo said quietly, “seems determined to go through with this.”

Cosmo offered him a puzzled look. “Do you have some other plan in mind?” the little green haired fairy asked, and his dark twin gave a startled jerk as he looked over at him.

“N-No, of course not!” he stammered, slightly shaken by the question. Could it be that Cosmo remembered about the missing file and suspected something?

“Don’t you want to get your wife back?”

“Of course I do!”

“Then I guess this is the only plan we’ve got,” the fairy said with a slight shrug. He yawned again, giving his back a good stretch. “Man, I’ve gotta get some sleep before tonight.”

Anti-Cosmo floated where he was for a moment, slightly above his colorful counterpart. He watched Cosmo run a hand through his hair, before leaning heavily against the wall. The little green haired fairy was obviously exhausted, but still willing to go through with a prison break attempt later that evening. This idea left the anti-fairy slightly confused, and he couldn’t help lowering himself to the floor to sit next to Cosmo.

“Do you trust me?” Anti-Cosmo asked quietly, honestly curious.

Cosmo turned to him, his brow furrowed. “What?”

“Do you trust me?” the dark fairy asked again, looking back towards the girls. “Is that why you’re helping? Because you trust me?”

Cosmo stared at his double for a few seconds more before following Anti-Cosmo’s gaze. Wanda was still sitting with Tabby, carefully explaining the details of her job as diversion, and she covered her mouth delicately with a hand to hide a small yawn. Her husband smiled.

“I trust HER,” he replied with a small nod in his wife’s direction. “She said you were different. She believes you’ve changed. I don’t know if that’s true—heck I’m still a little annoyed that you tricked me and took Tabby to begin with. But SHE believes it, and SHE trusts you. And I trust HER. So, I guess I do kinda trust you, in a roundabout way. And that’s why I’m helping.”

The two sat quietly for a few minutes, both still watching Wanda and Tabby. The little girl had grown bored with going over the details of the plan—yet again—so she pulled her godmother to the little craft table and began to color. Cosmo smiled, and wished he had more energy to go and join them. As it was he was worried about falling asleep right here and now.

Anti-Cosmo also watched the little girl and fairy at the table, and that little creature in the back of his head started poking again. Guilt. It was an annoying emotion, and the dark fairy could understand how its presence could push people to do strange things—like confess secrets best left hidden. But he was an evil anti-fairy genius. He was strong enough to withstand such weaknesses.

Tabby laughed as she held up the drawing she had been coloring. It was a rough, but recognizable, crayon drawing of Anti-Cosmo.

Wasn’t he?

“Cosmo,” the anti-fairy sighed, not quite sure what he was going to say, but saying it anyway. “About tonight . . .”

“Your wife misses you,” Cosmo said quietly, as he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. “She told me.” His dark doppelganger gawked at him.

“You’ve spoken with her?”

Cosmo nodded—or at least offered the best nod he could with his head resting against the wall.

“Is she all right?”

Another stunted nod from the tired green haired fairy. His brow furrowed slightly, as if just remembering something.

“She got shocked,” he said quietly, pulling his head away from the wall and offering Anti-Cosmo an apologetic look. “She’s okay now, because of how fast we heal, but the door of her cell shocked her when she pounded on it too hard. Don’t try to force your way through it or else you’ll get shocked too.” He paused, then added, “Make sure Wanda doesn’t touch it, either.”

‘Shocked’ was actually a pretty accurate description for how Anti-Cosmo felt at that particular moment. Cosmo, while not intentionally deceptive, would not have offered this little tidbit of information if not specifically asked about it—mostly because he probably hadn’t remembered it until now. But he made sure to caution his dark counterpart about it, and seemed as though he sincerely cared about Anti-Cosmo’s safety. He had added Wanda as an afterthought, only because the plan never placed her near Anti-Wanda’s cell in the first place.

“All right you,” Wanda called lovingly, startling Anti-Cosmo from his thoughts. “I see you nodding off over here. Why don’t you head back into the dollhouse and get some sleep, okay sweetie?” She helped a groggy Cosmo—who actually had been dozing off—to his feet, before glancing over her shoulder at Anti-Cosmo. “Tabby will probably keep coloring for a while, so she should be fine for a few minutes while I put this guy to bed. I’ll be back soon.”

Anti-Cosmo nodded as Wanda poofed herself and her husband into their secret home, leaving only a pale pink puff of smoke behind. As it cleared, the anti-fairy glanced back at the little girl at the table, who was indeed still coloring. After a moment’s hesitation, Anti-Cosmo slowly floated to the table and sat down across from Tabby.

“Hi Uncle Acie,” she said softly, her crayon never pausing on its journey across the page. Anti-Cosmo smiled despite himself—being called ‘Uncle’ still sounded so strange to him, but—much to his surprise—not in an unpleasant way.

“Hello Tabitha,” he replied just as softly, and watched as she applied the finishing touches to a crayon likeness of his wife. “What are you drawing?”

“Auntie,” the little girl said as she reached for the pink crayon again to darken her drawing’s eyes. She paused, her head cocked to the side as she studied her artwork.

“Something wrong?” ‘Uncle Acie’ asked, and she shrugged.

“Your ears are different,” she stated matter-of-factly as she hunched back over the paper. “Auntie’s got round ears, and yours are pointed.”

“Oh?” He had never thought about it before, but she was right.

Tabby nodded. “It’s kinda weird,” she said with a slight shrug. “But kinda neat, too.”

They sat quietly for a minute, Tabby coloring and Anti-Cosmo watching thoughtfully. The girl wasn’t afraid of him, even after he had kidnapped her and taken her away from everything that was familiar. She didn’t seem to dislike him—on the contrary, she still called him ‘Uncle’. Did she actually like and/or trust him? Or was it simply because he looked so much like her beloved godfather?

“Tabitha,” he started slowly, choosing his words carefully. “You know the difference between good guys and bad guys, right?”

Tabby nodded. “Uh huh.”

“And what are policemen? Good guys or bad guys? Ideally speaking.”

“Good guys,” she replied instantly. “Cause they catch bad guys.”

“Okay,” Anti-Cosmo said with a slow nod. “And bad guys would be burglars and bank robbers, right? Because they do bad things.”

Another nod from the little girl. “Yep.”

“So, good guys and bad guys are kind of . . . opposite, right?” he asked hesitantly, studying her reaction. “The opposite of good is bad.”

Tabby shrugged, head still lowered. “I guess so.”

Anti-Cosmo took a deep breath and plunged ahead.

“So . . . what am I?” he asked, straining to keep his voice steady. “A good guy or a bad guy?”

“Good guy,” came the instant reply, and the anti-fairy frowned.

“But how can that be?” he asked, finally pulling her attention from the paper before her. “Your godparents are good guys, right?” She nodded instantly. “Well, I’m the opposite of your godfather. If I’m opposite, that means I’m a bad guy, right?”

Tabby lowered her head slightly, her brow furrowed in thought. Anti-Cosmo sat quietly, letting the little girl work through the question as slowly as she needed to. He wasn’t trying to trick her, or confuse her, but he wanted to be sure she understood what he was asking. He was honestly curious what her response would be.

Anti-Cosmo was so focused on Tabby, that he hadn’t noticed when Wanda poofed back into the room a minute before. She floated silently near the dollhouse, listening intently to the conversation between anti-fairy and child.

“Maybe opposite doesn’t always have to mean something bad,” Tabby said slowly, working through her line of thought. “Or maybe you’re not really ‘opposite’, just ‘different’.”

Anti-Cosmo cocked his head slightly, and offered her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“Well . . . look.” Tabby pulled a fresh piece of paper from her stack and drew two shapes, a triangle and a circle. “These aren’t the same. I don’t think they’re opposite, but they’re different. A circle’s not good, so a triangle isn’t bad. See? They’re just different.”

Anti-Cosmo shook his head. “But Tabby, we’re not talking about shapes, we’re talking about . . . here,” he said, and shuffled through the many drawings on the table. He found what he was looking for and pulled two papers to the top. “This is your Cosmo,” he said, placing a crayon drawing of a little green haired fairy in front of her. “He’s a fairy, and you said he’s good, right?” She nodded. “So that means that fairies are good. Right?”

“Right,” she responded slowly, giving him a slight nod. He returned her nod and placed a crayon drawing of himself next to the first paper.

“Okay, and here’s me. I’m an ANTI-fairy. And ‘anti’ means opposite, right?” She nodded again, very slowly. “Okay, so let’s put it in order, shall we? My name is ANTI-COSMO, and since COSMO is good, and ANTI means opposite, that means that I’m the opposite of Cosmo, which means I’m BAD. Right?”

Tabby furrowed her brow as her eyes flicked back and forth between the crayon drawings. What he had said made sense, but it just didn’t feel right to her. Sure he looked different, and talked different, but he didn’t act different. No, he wasn’t as jolly and cheerful as her godfather, but then again, he wasn’t exactly mean to her either. Curious, she looked up at him.

“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked, and he gave a startled jerk, his eyes wide.

“Wh—what are you talking about?”

“Cosmo would never hurt me,” she explained, shaking her head slightly. “Will you?”

“Certainly not!”

“Will you hurt Mama-Wanda?”

“No, but I fail to see . . .”

“Are you going to be mean to me and steal my dolls or rip up my drawings?” she asked, her head cocked slightly.

“Of course not! But that doesn’t . . .”

“Then you’re not bad,” the little girl finished with a shrug. “Only bad people do that stuff. Cosmo wouldn’t and he’s good, so if you wouldn’t either, that must mean you’re good too.”

“But,” Anti-Cosmo said softly after a moment of stunned shock. “I’m the opposite of him.”

Tabby shook her head, looking almost annoyed. “No, you’re DIFFERENT,” she said, enunciating the word clearly. “’Different’ doesn’t have to mean bad or good. It’s just . . . well, DIFFERENT. You’re different because you have blue skin and bat wings and pointed ears and a little hat instead of a crown and that little glass thingy on your eye and Cosmo doesn’t. But you’re the same too, because you’re both nice to me and won’t let me get hurt—like you did in that dirty place. You saved me from falling and getting hurt. A bad guy would have let me fall. Or pushed me. That’s what makes them BAD. Duh!”

Anti-Cosmo was speechless. His mind was a spinning blur, and it made him almost dizzy to try and pin down one complete thought. Good, bad, fairy, anti-fairy, opposite, different, nothing made sense anymore. He worried if he thought about it too much, he’d go insane.

“I’m hungry,” Tabby said suddenly, as if the anti-fairy across from her weren’t currently suffering a complete and total identity crisis. “Can I go downstairs and get a cookie, Mama?”

Anti-Cosmo jumped slightly and turned in time to see Wanda floating towards the little table.

“Okay, sweetie,” she said, and Tabby was off like a shot. “JUST ONE!”

Wanda pulled out the chair next to Anti-Cosmo and silently sat down. Her eyes floated across the various crayon drawings on the table, returning time and time again to the ones of her husband and the anti-fairy next to her.

“Interesting conversation,” she commented as she pulled the drawings of both anti-fairies closer. Anti-Cosmo sat quietly for a moment, running his fingers down the page with the circle and triangle.

“I don’t think she understood properly,” he said quietly.

Wanda gave a slight shrug. “On the contrary, I think she understands better than you do.”

He turned, giving her a sharp look. “She’s just a child!”

Another shrug from the pink haired fairy. “Children tend to see things in much simpler ways,” she said, gently pushing his crayon likeness toward him. “They’re usually not bound by prejudices or preconceived notions.”

“But I’m an anti-fairy . . .” he replied weakly, and Wanda shook her head.

“But she doesn’t know what an anti-fairy IS,” she said softly. “All that little girl knows about anti-fairies is what she’s seen of you and your wife. She likes you. She sees you for who you are NOW. Not who you were years ago.”

Anti-Cosmo sighed heavily, placing his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands. Wanda had to admit, she felt sorry for him. Cosmo’s transplanted gland had changed him, and he was having a hard time accepting that. He was an anti-fairy, expected to behave in a certain accepted manner, and unfortunately, that accepted manner no longer came naturally to him.

Or no longer interested him. She wasn’t sure which was more accurate.

“’Anti-fairy’ is WHAT you are, not WHO you are,” Wanda said softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Don’t confuse the two. You’re different now, and you need to face that fact. Whether that change is good or bad is irrelevant, and quite frankly simply personal opinion. Fighting it or ignoring it is only going to make things harder on yourself. You need to accept these changes as part of who you are now. Otherwise, you’re just going to hide behind a cheap façade and make yourself miserable.”

“But these changes have made the rest of my kind hate me!” he hissed harshly, and Wanda fought the sudden—and very strong—urge to pull him into her arms in order to comfort him.

“What about your wife?” she asked gently. “Isn’t she the most important thing in the universe to you? Isn’t she more important than your role in anti-fairy society? Does she hate you because of these changes?”

He was silent for a moment before slumping back in his chair, breathing a heavy sigh. It was a good thirty seconds before he could look at her, and when he did, his eyes were shiny.

“No,” he whispered, a small smile on his lips. “She doesn’t hate me. She . . . I think she likes the changes.”

“Isn’t that all that matters?”

“But the others . . .” he began, trouble clouding his features.

Wanda waved a dismissive hand at him. “Oh, forget about the others! AC, you can’t let what others think rule your life! If I did that, I wouldn’t be married to Cosmo right now, and—heaven help me—probably be stuck with Juandissimo. There comes a time when you have to start living your life the way YOU want to live it, and to the dung-heap with what others think! Besides, we’re not trying to free ALL the anti-fairies, we’re only going after your wife. Let ‘em all sit and stew in their little prison cells. Meanwhile, you’ll be free, your wife will be free, and I’m quite sure you’ll have no trouble evading capture once again.”

She paused, a slight smile on her lips. “IF you can resist the urge to kidnap any more godchildren, that is.”

“I’ll try to restrain myself,” he replied, returning her smile with one of his own.

“You do that,” she said before getting up. “Well, I’d better go check on that goddaughter of mine. She’s probably perched herself on the counter, gobbling her way down to the bottom of the cookie jar. I’d better save her before a bellyache puts her down for the night.”

Wanda began floating toward the door when a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. As she turned, two hands cupped her face, and Anti-Cosmo pulled her close, brushing his lips gently against hers. The kiss was over before she barely had time to register it, and suddenly she was in a tight embrace, the hair on her neck prickling slightly as he whispered into her ear.

“You’re an incredible woman, Wanda. Thank you!”

He was gone before Wanda could even think of reacting, leaving behind nothing but a dark puff of smoke and a slightly acrid smell. She stood where she was for a few seconds, hoping her head would stop spinning long enough for her to figure out what had just happened. His actions went so against what she was used to, her brain almost refused to register it.

He had seemed . . . happy. Genuinely happy. Just-had-a-tremendous-weight-lifted-from-his-shoulders happy. It was as if he had been warring with himself—the old Anti-Cosmo versus the new—and simply needed permission to accept who he had become. Wanda had given him that permission, and he had been so happy and grateful, that he had kissed her. She had sensed no love or romance in that kiss or embrace—in fact, she doubted he even realized he was going to do it until it happened. It was pure gut reaction. And that thought made Wanda smile.

It was then she became aware of something in her hand. Glancing down, she found an old piece of parchment, and surmised that it must have come from Anti-Cosmo. She unfolded it carefully, and her eyes grew wide at the faded words.

Dread dropped into her belly like a cold stone. Helping a reformed anti-fairy break his wife out of prison was one thing. But what if this same so-called ‘reformed’ anti-fairy was actually setting the table for a spectacular double cross?

And what if there was nothing she could do to stop it?

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan enacted. Breaking a single anti-fairy out of the most heavily guarded prison in Fairy World. What could possibly go wrong?

“Are you okay?” Cosmo asked quietly as the group huddled in the shadows outside the Anti-Fairy Prison. The soft radiance of twilight cast him in an orange glow as he offered his wife a worried look. “You look kinda . . . funny.”

They had gone over the plan one last time before poofing to Fairy World, and now waited until night fell completely before putting it into motion. Wanda nodded slightly, forcing a small smile to her lips.

“Yeah,” she said in a strained voice. “I’m just a little nervous about tonight.”

Her husband gave her a concerned look. “Should we call it off?” he asked, unconsciously pulling Tabby closer to him. “Do you think that something bad will happen?” Wanda gave him a look so strange that he backed off slightly. “What?”

The truth was she DID think something bad would happen, but it had nothing to do with the actual prison break.

“Nothing,” she said instead, uttering a small sigh and shaking her head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Cosmo watched her for a few seconds more before turning back to watch the front gate. Two fairy guards were floating back and forth before the only entrance to the large prison, each armed with a large, menacing looking wand. As the last of the daylight faded from the sky, the starry tips of the weapons flickered to life, illuminating the area with a soft glow.

Showtime.

“Okay, Cosmo,” Wanda said, cupping her husband’s face in her hands. “It’s time. Remember, if anything goes wrong, grab Tabby and poof out of there right away.”

Cosmo nodded within his wife’s grip, and she placed a gentle kiss on his lips for luck before releasing him and turning to her goddaughter.

“You remember what you have to do, right sweetie?” she asked, and the little girl nodded, causing the tight curls in her hair to bob madly.

“I hafta be thweet and adorable tho no one won’t thee you and Uncle Acie letting Auntie go,” Tabby said as Cosmo took her hand.

Wanda cocked her head, a small smirk on her lips. “The lisp is a bit much, kiddo,” she said and Tabby smiled guiltily, a small blush crawling across her cheeks. “We want cute, not cavity inducing.”

“’Kay.”

“You be careful,” Cosmo quietly told his wife, his voice unusually serious. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” Before she could respond, Anti-Cosmo placed a firm hand on his double’s shoulder, making Cosmo jump slightly.

“Wanda shall come to no harm, Cosmo,” he said softly, his face solemn. “On that, you have my word.”

The green haired fairy nodded slightly as he raised his wand. “Don’t pound on the cell door,” he reminded Anti-Cosmo as his wand began to glow. “You’ll get shocked.” His dark twin nodded once as Cosmo turned back to his wife.

“Good luck,” he said softly before he and Tabby disappeared silently.

Wanda sighed. “This is gonna take a whole lot more than ‘luck’,” she muttered as the light green puff of smoke cleared. “I’d welcome a miracle.”

Anti-Cosmo floated closer to her, wringing his hands nervously. “Will she be able to keep them distracted for as long as we need, do you think?” he asked quietly.

Wanda shrugged, looking back towards the pacing guards. “On the few occasions her parents actually took her out with them, they usually . . . ‘encouraged’ Tabby to perform like a trained seal,” she said sourly. “When she stopped performing the ‘uber-cute moppet’ routine, her parents were less likely to take her along. But that girl still knows every Shirley Temple song from ‘Animal Crackers in my Soup’, to the old standby ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’. So it really depends on who’s watching the monitors. If it’s Binky, we should have plenty of time. If it’s Jorgen . . .” She shrugged again, adding a shaky sigh. “We may need to move much quicker than we planned.”

Anti-Cosmo nodded, his attention returning to the prison entrance. The thought of his wife in custody made him anxious to get moving, but haste would only spell sloppy actions. If this plan—such as it was—was going to succeed, he would have to put personal feelings aside. As hard as that had suddenly become.

Soon. His beloved wife would be by his side once again. Soon.

A papery whisper drew him from his thoughts and he turned in time to see an old piece of parchment float to the ground at his feet. He watched as it landed gently, coming to rest in the soft billowy cloud the prison rested on. A hard lump had suddenly formed in his throat, and he swallowed in an attempt to dislodge it.

“’When the blue moon shines full and equal magics combine, a child shall hold the key to change’,” Wanda said as she recited the faded words she had memorized from the paper. “Equal magics—fairies and their anti counterparts. And gee, lemme guess. There’s a full blue moon tonight, isn’t there?”

“I can explain,” Anti-Cosmo began, holding his hands up in a calming gesture.

“I can’t believe how stupid I was,” she continued, frowning deeply. “Did I actually believe that the ONLY reason you wanted to free your wife was because you ‘missed her’?”

“Wanda—“

“That’s why you kidnapped Tabby. Not because of some invented story involving your inability to have children. You needed her AND us! You had this whole thing planned from the beginning!”

Wanda’s voice was steadily climbing in volume, causing the guards to pause in mid pace to look around curiously.

“Wanda, the guards, they’ll hear!” Anti-Cosmo whispered as he floated closer.

The pink haired fairy scoffed. “Maybe that’s for the best!” she replied, but kept her voice hushed. “Maybe I should simply turn you in right now for making a fool of me!”

Before Wanda could say another word or move more than an eyebrow, Anti-Cosmo threw himself at her, pinning her to the ‘ground’ and clamping a hand over her mouth. They struggled briefly, stopping only when one of the guards came uncomfortably close to their hiding spot. Lying frozen in place, Anti-Cosmo slightly on top of Wanda, they watched the guard with wide eyes. He paused, a mere few feet from where the two lay entangled. After a few glances around him, the guard slowly floated back to his post, shrugging his shoulders at his partner’s queries.

Anti-Cosmo and Wanda slowly began to breathe again, and the dark fairy turned to his companion angrily.

“I find a number of inconsistencies in your assumptions, Wanda,” he said coolly, his hand still firmly in place over her mouth. “But allow me to begin by admitting that, yes, I had planned to take advantage of this recent discovery to re-assume my place in the anti-fairy hierarchy. However, I had not discovered that file until AFTER I had . . . ‘borrowed’ your Tabitha.”

Above the hand that securely covered her mouth, Wanda’s eyes practically glowed with anger. She whipped her head back and forth quickly in an attempt to shake his hand free, only to have him tighten his grip.

“Don’t believe me? Don’t bloody care,” he continued, casting a quick glance toward the guards. “Time is passing quickly and with it is lost a higher chance of success. My point is I HAD planned to use you three, but no longer. Our talk earlier today has shown me that I am not the anti-fairy I once was. I don’t have to BE the anti-fairy I once was. For heaven’s sake Wanda, why do you think I GAVE that paper to you in the first place??”

Anti-Cosmo released his hold on both her mouth and body a split second before she bucked him off. She regained her feet quickly, and the two glared at each other, locked in a face off.

“Considering how much delight you get out of showing off your superior intelligence, the answer should be self-explanatory,” she hissed through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed. “How do I know you didn’t have THAT planned from the beginning too? For all I know, the whole ‘I’ve changed!’ thing could have been an act concocted who knows how long ago! Make up some sob story, do a few good deeds and WHAM! Good ol’ bleeding-heart Wanda trusts you enough to help you break another anti-fairy out of the most secure and heavily guarded prison in the history of Fairy World.”

“Oh yes, Wanda,” Anti-Cosmo replied with an exaggerated eye roll. “You’ve found me out. I’ve effectively portrayed myself as a traitor to the rest of my kind, suffered through a very confusing and mind-twisting identity crisis AND stood by as Jorgen does who-knows-what to my wife just to make YOU look foolish. Congratulations, you are both paranoid AND egocentric.”

Wanda growled. “Don’t push me, pal. I’m _thisclose_ to turning you in and grabbing Cosmo and Tabby to poof home.”

“Then why don’t you?” the anti-fairy asked, closing the gap between them. “Why did you even come and maintain the façade that everything was still a go?” Wanda blinked, her cheeks turning flush. “Because deep down you still believe me. Deep down you know that even I would never stoop so low as to claim infertility unless it was actually true.”

Anti-Cosmo paused, glancing quickly at the prison with a troubled expression before turning back. “Wanda, please. Time is slipping away quickly. We don’t have time for this!”

“You’re an anti-fairy,” Wanda said quietly, brow furrowed. “Why should I trust you?”

“’Anti-fairy’ is WHAT I am, not WHO I am,” he replied softly, repeating Wanda’s words from earlier that day. “Don’t confuse the two. Yesterday I myself wouldn’t have been able to differentiate between them, but after speaking with a couple of quite intelligent ladies, I’ve discovered that there IS indeed a difference. My wife is in that big, imposing building, and I intend to do whatever I can to get her out. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated, however I would understand if you have changed your mind. Just please, let me know quickly. Time is of the essence.”

Wanda frowned. She really shouldn’t trust him. Whatever small amount of trust she had for him had shattered the instant she had read that file. A file he had—admittedly—freely given her, knowing full well that if she was aware of it, she could prevent him from carrying out any ‘plan’. Of course, THAT could very well have been part of his plan from the beginning as well. But why would Anti-Cosmo complicate matters by letting Wanda in on it?

With a soft grunt, Wanda shook her head. She was thinking in circles, and coming very close to giving herself a headache.

“Would you give me your word, your honest-to-goodness-may-lightning-strike-you-down-if-you’re-lying word, that you are not planning on double-crossing us?” she asked quietly, regarding him with narrowed eyes and a firm gaze.

His face became somber, his right hand coming to rest on his chest, over his heart.

“Freely,” he replied, giving her a slight bow. “You have my solemn word that I have no ulterior motives regarding tonight. My only goal is to free my wife. She is all that matters.”

Wanda studied him for a moment, searching for some sign he was lying—a flicker of an eyebrow, a small twitch at the corner of his mouth, a quick glance away. He looked back, unmoving. Wanda raised an eyebrow, feeling more curiosity than shock or surprise.

He was telling the truth. And she believed him.

“All right,” she said with a slight sigh. “Let’s watch for Cosmo’s signal, then.”

Without another word, the fairy and anti-fairy hidden in the shadows of the Anti-Fairy Prison looked toward the building, watching for their sign to move.

_**-X-X-X-** _

When Cosmo and Tabby had appeared in the security room, he was thrilled at his luck. The room had been empty except for Binky, who was sitting at the control board, watching the various monitors that kept watch over all the anti-fairies. When Tabby had gone into her Shirley Temple routine, Binky had been happy enough to turn his back on the screens, often singing along with the disguised little girl.

A quick glance of the wall-o-televisions and Cosmo had found the camera trained on Anti-Wanda. He had tucked his wand behind his back and was about to black out the monitor when Jorgen had entered the room with a loud thunderclap.

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” the Head Fairy bellowed, making both Cosmo and Binky flinch. “Who is this child?”

Cosmo resisted the urge to burst into hysterical tears and swallowed hard.

“I-I thought you might need some entertainment,” he stammered, and Jorgen studied the little girl with narrowed eyes. “You know, because of your hard work watching for Anti-Cosmo?”

“She looks familiar,” Jorgen muttered, moving closer to Tabby. The little girl instantly assumed her character’s persona, dipping into a little curtsey and holding the hem of her little sailor’s dress in her fingers.

“I resemble—but am legally distinct from—Shirley Temple!” she replied, and Cosmo uttered a silent sigh of relief at the fact that she had remembered to disguise her voice. “Would you like me to sing a song for you?”

Jorgen opened his mouth to say something when Binky piped up from behind the large wingless fairy.

“YES! That would be super!” he cried, a wide smile on his little face. Jorgen rounded on him, pegging the little fairy with an annoyed look. “What?! I’m bored just staring at these monitors! And I love when cute little girls sing songs!”

“Did you forget just WHY you’re staring at those monitors??” Jorgen boomed, and Binky flinched.

“NO, but come on!” the little fairy whined. “We’ve got alarms all over the place! If Anti-Cosmo tried to get in here, we’d know it!”

Jorgen glared at Binky before flicking his eyes back to the little girl. There was something familiar about her, but the Head Fairy just couldn’t put his very muscular finger on it. He glanced at Cosmo, who looked incredibly nervous and uncomfortable, but then again, Cosmo ALWAYS looked nervous and uncomfortable around Jorgen, so there really didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Besides, if Cosmo was here, and Anti-Wanda was locked up in an escape-proof cell below them, the knowledge on the stolen file couldn’t exactly be used, could it? Keeping an eye on Cosmo might be a good idea.

“Do you know the teapot song?” Jorgen asked, and the little girl smiled.

“Sure!” she cried, and proceeded to sing about her handle and spout.

Two childhood favorites later, Cosmo tucked his wand behind his back again. Once assuring himself that Binky and Jorgen were both engrossed in Tabby’s little show—Binky looking a heck of a lot more excited about it than Jorgen—he made it flash twice. Once to black out the screen showing Anti-Wanda, and once to signal Wanda and Anti-Cosmo.

It was now or never.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“There’s the signal,” Wanda said as her wand flashed once. “Let’s go.”

Anti-Cosmo nodded as Wanda changed shape.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“Who’s there?” one of the guards called as a large shadowy figure approached the gates. They both brandished their wands threateningly at the newcomer. “Identify yourself!”

“Put those down you puny fairies!” a voice called as Jorgen entered the light thrown off from the starry tips. “And let me pass!”

“Mr. Von Strangle, Sir!” the other guard said as they both went into a rigid salute. “We’re sorry sir, we didn’t expect to see you out here. We thought you were up in the control room.”

“I was called away on urgent business.”

The two guards exchanged a glance. “Business, Sir?”

“I’ve caught Anti-Cosmo,” Jorgen said, and thrust forward his right hand. Held tightly in the curled fist was the anti-fairy, looking sour and struggling weakly.

“Luck!” the dark fairy cried, glowering at the guards. “’Twas simply luck that allowed such a muscle head to capture me!”

The guards looked up in awe.

“Well done, Sir!” the one on the left exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.

The right one nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, well done!”

“Yes, yes, I am an example of perfection,” Jorgen said with a wave of his free hand. “You may bow down to my mighty feet later. I must take his prisoner to his cell at once. Now LET ME BY!”

The guards jumped slightly, quickly going back to their assigned positions at either side of the entrance. The rigid salutes were back as the door opened.

“Very good, Sir!” they cried in unison as Jorgen stormed inside, slamming the door behind him.

After a few seconds, one guard turned to the other.

“Did his voice seem a little . . . strange to you?”

His friend shrugged, and silence returned as they resumed their watch duties.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“You didn’t have to hold me so tightly,” Anti-Cosmo hissed once Jorgen/Wanda released him.

“I had to make it believable, didn’t I?” Wanda replied, still in the form of her superior. “Now where’s Anti-Wanda’s cell?”

The two moved quickly, being careful not to cross the path of any of the cameras focused on the cells of all the other anti-fairies. Wanda noticed how the other dark fairies glared at Anti-Cosmo, their eyes filled with anger and hatred. He didn’t seem to notice, his attention focused solely on finding his wife.

Some of the anti-fairies glanced at her, and she shuddered unconsciously. The look in their eyes never wavered, even though she was still in the form of Jorgen. It was as if they could see through her disguise and recognized her as the little pink haired fairy she was. It was unsettling, to say the least.

“There she is!” Anti-Cosmo whispered, and moved quickly to the front of her cell. She was sleeping, curled into a tight ball in the middle of the floor, and he tapped gently on the door to wake her. “Darling? Darling wake up! You’ll be all right now! I’m here!”

Anti-Wanda stirred slightly before waking with a violent jerk. She glanced around herself, still slightly dazed from being awoken so suddenly. Anti-Cosmo smiled, near tears at seeing her again.

“It’s okay, my darling,” he soothed, drawing her attention to the door. When she saw him, she smiled widely. “Everything will be all right soon.”

“Anti-Cosmo!” she cried as she hurriedly crawled to the door. Tears were starting to leak from her large pink eyes, and she placed her hands against the clear door so that they rested near her husband’s. “How . . ?”

“Nevermind that now,” he said with a slight shake of his head as he stood and began to examine the outside of the cell. “I’ll explain everything later. Right now we’ve got to get you out.”

Anti-Wanda nodded, and was about to say something when her face changed. The smile dropped and her eyes grew wide and fearful. She was looking behind her husband, a scream caught in her throat. Wanda had just come into the light, and she was still disguised as Jorgen.

“LOOK OUT!” Anti-Wanda cried, and began to pound on the door without thinking. “JORGEN’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU! GET AWAY! RUN—“

A buzzer began to sound, and the door to Anti-Wanda’s cell suddenly flashed blue-white as a bolt of electricity flowed through her. Her screams reverberated down the empty hallway, coming to an abrupt end when she was thrown across the cell.

“NO!” Anti-Cosmo cried as he slammed his fists against the door, in spite of the security system. “Anti-Wanda!! Are you all right?? ANTI-WANDA!!”

Wanda, shocked out of her disguise by the sight of her duplicate in pain, rushed to pull Anti-Cosmo back before the same fate could befall him. He fought her, struggling hard to return to the door. He was still calling his wife’s name.

“AC, stop it!” Wanda hissed into his ear, but might not have said anything for all the good it did. “AC!”

With an annoyed grunt, Wanda spun the dark fairy around and slapped him across the face. Hard. He stopped instantly, staring at her with a kind of dumb fascination.

“Y-you struck me . . .” he said quietly, and Wanda gripped him by the shoulders to give him a stern shake.

“Get a hold of yourself,” she said, locking eyes with him. “We need to keep our heads or everything will fall to pieces!”

He stared at her for a few seconds before blinking hard and giving his head a good shake. When he looked at her again, his eyes were clearer.

“I’m sorry, Wanda,” he said, straightening his jacket with shaky hands. “Seeing her hurt . . . I just . . . I lost my head for a moment. I’m better now, thank you.”

“’Better’ is not exactly the word I’d use for our current situation,” Wanda replied as she released his shoulders and stood in front of her doppelganger’s cell. “Cosmo was wrong. These panels near the cells aren’t door releases. They look like intercoms or possibly power controls for the electricity circuits.”

“Are you telling me we got this far only to fail because your husband offered false information??” Anti-Cosmo asked, his fists clenching tightly.

Wanda offered him an annoyed look. “He didn’t do it on purpose,” she hissed back, curling her lips at him. “How was he supposed to know what these were?? And why on earth would he even pay attention to door releases? He had no idea we were going to try to break her out until AFTER he had been here!”

The two glared at each other for a moment, and Anti-Cosmo struggled to control the angry replies flashing rapidly in his mind. It was all well and good to blame Cosmo, but ultimately, Wanda was right. He made a mistake, but it wasn’t intentional. The information he had provided up until now had been most helpful, in fact. Cosmo had actually done more than Anti-Cosmo would have ever expected.

Closing his eyes tightly, Anti-Cosmo uttered a heavy sigh.

“You’re right,” he said as he turned back to look into his wife’s cell. She was getting shakily to her feet, her skin healing slowly. “It wasn’t his fault. I’m just . . . disappointed that this was all for naught.”

Wanda said nothing and watched as Anti-Wanda made her way back to the door. The two anti-fairies gazed at each other through the clear barrier, the look of longing evident in each of their eyes. The little pink haired fairy’s heart twisted and she wished she could do something to help. But they were stuck. She suspected that the only way to open these cells was on that big control panel in the security room, and getting a message to Cosmo would be way too risky.

With a heavy sigh, Wanda wondered if they could get out as easily as they got in.

_**-X-X-X-** _

As Tabby hopped and skipped her way through the second rendition of “On the Good Ship Lollipop”—per Binky’s request, of course—Cosmo glanced nervously at his superior. Jorgen was watching the little girl as well, but with a much more shrewd look.

Cosmo recognized that look. It’s the look someone had when they KNEW they remembered someone, but couldn’t quite remember where. If they didn’t get out of there soon, Jorgen might figure it out and then there would be trouble, and lots of it.

Besides, it’s been a while. Wanda and Anti-Cosmo HAD to have gotten Anti-Wanda free by now, right?

“Hooray!” Binky applauded, laughing happily. “That was fun!”

“Yeah,” Cosmo laughed shakily, moving closer to the little girl. “Fun. But I think we’d better get going and let you guys get back to work.” He tucked his wand behind his back and flashed it once, bringing the screen overlooking Anti-Wanda’s cell back to life. “You’ve gotta keep an eye out for Anti-Cosmo—“

Cosmo stopped, his eyes wide. He had glanced over at the monitor covering Anti-Wanda’s cell and found it still sealed. That would have been bad enough, but Wanda and Anti-Cosmo were still standing outside of it, in plain view of the camera.

This was not part of the plan. Not at all.

In his panic, Cosmo unconsciously clenched onto Tabby’s shoulder, bringing a pained cry from the girl.

“OW! Cut it out, Cosmo!”

That did it. Tabby had not disguised her voice and Jorgen’s eyes went wide as recognition clicked home. He leveled his wand at the little girl, and—before she or Cosmo could say anything—blasted her with a light yellow bolt. When it dissipated, Tabby’s disguise was gone, revealing the little girl in her normal garb. Jorgen exploded.

“I KNEW YOU SEEMED FAMILIAR!” he bellowed as he lifted up the little girl. She offered him a weak smile.

“Wanna hear ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’?”

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS??” Jorgen demanded of Cosmo, who shrank away, trembling.

“I-I—I-I—I—“ the little green haired fairy stammered, too terrified to think up a good excuse.

“SIR, LOOK!” Binky called, pulling Jorgen’s attention. The large Head Fairy tucked the little girl under his arm like a football and moved toward the control panel. Binky was pointing to the camera over Anti-Wanda’s cell, and Jorgen’s jaw dropped.

“It’s a prison break,” he said, mostly to himself. “ALERT THE GUARDS!! SCRAMBLE THE FAIRIES!! SURROUND THE PRISON AND—“

Jorgen broke off in mid command, nearly drowned out by the sound of a very loud alarm. Startled and confused, he looked down at the little girl hanging in the curl of his right arm. She was staring at the monitor that showed Wanda and the two anti-fairies. Her right arm was extended out, with her hand resting atop a large, red button. Tabby knew the plan was to get Anti-Wanda out of the prison. She also knew how to read. Sort of.

Below the button, printed large and bold in black letters, was the word ‘OPEN’. What she didn’t see were the words beneath that, printed in smaller letters. Those words were ‘ALL CELLS’.

All three fairies in the control room watched the wall of monitors in stunned silence. In each screen, a cell door swung open.

All the anti-fairies were free. And Wanda was trapped with them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the anti-fairies are loose. The fairies and Tabby are trapped in the prison with them. At least things couldn't get much worse. Right?

When Anti-Wanda’s cell door suddenly swung open, allowing Anti-Cosmo to zip forward and pull his wife into a tight embrace, Wanda wasn’t worried. Cosmo WAS in the control room after all, perhaps he had brought the camera overlooking Anti-Wanda’s cell back to life long enough to see their progress—or lack thereof—and managed to activate the door control.

It was possible. Admittedly, not overly likely, but possible.

What DID worry Wanda was the loud alarm that had begun to sound right before the cell door had swung open. Loud, braying prison alarms that go off suddenly usually didn’t bring good news.

“Guys, I think we need to get out of here,” she called to the two anti-fairies as they kissed happily. “NOW!”

The anti-fairies exchanged one more quick kiss before turning toward Wanda, their hands clasped tightly together and happy smiles on their lips. They seemed totally and completely oblivious to the loud alarm echoing throughout the building.

“Of course, Wanda,” Anti-Cosmo said as they began to walk forward. “We were simply—“

He stopped dead, his eyes growing almost as wide as his wife’s.

“Oh no,” the pink haired fairy muttered as the alarm continued to bleat. “We’ve been caught, haven’t we?”

A throaty chuckle sounded in her ear just then, making the hair on the nape of her neck prickle.

“Yes,” a low voice replied, and an icy shiver tip-toed up Wanda’s spine. “You have.”

Anti-Cosmo suddenly jerked forward and grabbed Wanda’s wrist, yanking her away from the owner of the voice. In one swift motion, he shoved her and his wife into the empty cell, before slamming the door closed and leaning heavily against it.

With no power, the door could not be locked, or remain closed. He was all that stood between a prison full of angry anti-fairies, and two defenseless women.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“WANDA!” Cosmo cried as he stared at the monitor. “We’ve got to get her out of there!”

“We CAN’T get her out!” Jorgen bellowed, running a hand over his flat top. “She’s trapped with every anti-fairy in existence!”

“I’M SORRY!” Tabby cried, large tears rolling down her face. “I didn’t know that button would let ‘em all out! I just wanted to help! I’M SORRY!!”

“Sir, the Fail Safe is kicking into effect!” Binky announced as a new light blinked on.

“I wish Wanda was here!” Tabby cried suddenly, giving Cosmo’s tie a quick yank. “I WISH WANDA WAS HERE!”

Cosmo lifted his wand, which glowed for a split second before falling limp with a soft ‘Pbbbt’ sound.

“What happened?” he cried, giving his wand a fierce shake. “Why isn’t my magic working??”

“It’s the Fail Safe,” Jorgen said, as he slammed a button on the control panel, killing the alarm in mid-wail.

“Huh?”

“It’s a security measure,” Binky explained, wringing his hands worriedly. “If all the cells were ever opened all at once, an enchantment goes into effect that prevents any magic from being performed inside the prison.”

“You mean all the anti-fairies are free, Wanda’s stuck with them and we have NO MAGIC to stop them??” Cosmo asked, clutching his useless wand.

Binky nodded. “I’m afraid so.” He offered the green haired fairy a shaky smile. “But it could be worse.”

Cosmo gaped at him. “HOW?”

“We could ALL be trapped down there, surrounded by angry anti-fairies.”

As if on cue, the door to the control room burst open, and a dozen angry anti-fairies pushed their way in.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“So, the wayward son has finally returned,” Anti-Binky sneered, offering Anti-Cosmo a toothy grin. “I’m surprised you aren’t hiding in there with the women, all things considered. Stand aside, traitor.”

“Now why would I do a silly thing like that?” Anti-Cosmo answered, his voice surprisingly steady. “Besides, why would you want to bother with them? Aren’t I the one you truly want?”

Anti-Binky uttered a soft chuckle. “Such a high opinion of himself, this one,” the small anti-fairy said to the group of dark fairies behind him as he hooked a thumb toward Anti-Cosmo. “And so short sighted.”

He was answered with a group snicker, as is customary procedure for large mobs.

“Short sighted?” Anti-Cosmo asked, drawing the attention of the newly assumed leader of the anti-fairies back. “My dear Anti-Binky, I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain this hilariously insane claim of yours.”

The mob chuckled again, much to Anti-Binky’s annoyance. He turned and cast a look over them that promised swift vengeance to anyone who dared respond in such a way again. A sea of red eyes stared back at him, and the room suddenly went silent as the alarm died. It seemed as though even the prison itself feared Anti-Binky’s retribution.

“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” Anti-Binky asked as he turned back to face Anti-Cosmo. His voice was low and dangerous and he stepped forward until he was almost nose-to-nose with his rival. “You thought you had everything planned out nice and neat, didn’t you? Thought everything would work exactly as it was supposed to, when it was supposed to, right?”

“That’s generally the whole idea behind a ‘plan’, yes,” Anti-Cosmo replied, pushing his back harder against the see-through cell door. He wasn’t afraid of Anti-Binky exactly, but the other dark fairy was uncomfortably close. At this distance, and with his back against the cell door, Anti-Cosmo had no maneuvering room if Anti-Binky were to attack. Not to mention the fact that Anti-Cosmo’s view of the rest of the anti-fairies was almost completely blocked, which he guessed probably wasn’t an accident. “What, pray tell, is your point?”

“Then tell me, Mr. Smart-Guy-With-The-Plan,” Anti-Binky said, his voice almost a whisper. “Did this oh-so-obviously-well-thought-out-plan of yours include releasing the rest of us, or just her?” He practically spat the pronoun out, and flicked his red eyes over Anti-Cosmo’s shoulder to peg Anti-Wanda with a dark look. The female anti-fairy trembled under his gaze and took a few steps backward.

“He knows,” Anti-Wanda whispered as she continued to move backwards until her back hit the wall. “He knows and he’s just playing with AC. He’s a mean one, and he’s been telling the rest of the anti-fairies things about me and AC, and now they’re all mad at us. We’re in so much trouble! They’ll never let us out of here—“

“Calm down,” Wanda soothed as she moved in front of her dark double and took her gently by the arms. “AC’s a smart guy, he’ll think of something. Besides, we’re not done yet! I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that, because the alarm went off, Jorgen knows what’s going on down here. I’ll bet he’s on his way and is gonna kick some anti-fairy bootie!”

Anti-Wanda offered her colorful counterpart a small smile, which quickly died as she glanced over Wanda’s shoulder.

“I don’t think he’s gonna do much bootie kicking,” she said quietly with a slight shake of her head.

Wanda frowned. “What are you . . .” she began as she turned and followed her duplicate’s gaze. “Oh, no.”

Jorgen, Cosmo, Binky and Tabby were being lead toward Anti-Binky, each with an anti-fairy on either arm, with the exception of Tabby, who was wriggling furiously in the tight clutches of The-Anti-Tooth-Fairy. Anti-Cosmo, who had been doing a fabulous job of holding his poker face until that moment, broke eye contact with Anti-Binky to glance to his left at the new arrivals.

His face pulled into a very pronounced frown. “Oh crumpets,” he muttered, right before he was roughly yanked away from the door by another of Anti-Binky’s toadies. A split second later, the cell door was open and his wife began calling for him worriedly.

“Get them out here,” Anti-Binky ordered as four anti-fairies hurried into the now open cell. “I want ‘em all where I can see ‘em.”

“WANDA!” Cosmo and Tabby cried as the women were dragged from the cell.

The pink haired fairy managed a quick glance at her husband before she and her double were roughly twisted around to face Anti-Binky.

“Well, well,” he said as he was handed the confiscated wands of Wanda, Cosmo, Binky and Anti-Cosmo. “Looks like the tables have turned.” He tucked all the wands into the black belt of his red anti-magic jumpsuit, before looking at Jorgen. “Where’s his?”

“It was too bulky to handle, so we left it in the control room,” Anti-Jorgen said, his voice almost too soft to hear. His fairy counterpart rolled his eyes with a curled lip.

“How embarrassing to have YOU as my anti-fairy,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I am most ashamed.”

Anti-Jorgen blushed and cast his eyes downward, rubbing the back of his neck with a shaky hand. “Sorry.”

“Enough!” Anti-Binky snapped, waving a dismissive hand in their direction. “I have more important things to deal with.” He walked almost casually towards Anti-Wanda, and stopped right in front of her. “Hmmm . . . She certainly doesn’t look like much, does she? It’s almost hard to believe that someone would turn his back on his entire race just for YOU.”

Anti-Binky reached toward her, and her husband’s heart skipped.

“NO!” Anti-Cosmo screamed, struggling in the iron grip of his captor. “Don’t hurt her!”

His rival turned and offered him a smile that was more of a smirk.

“Why Anti-Cosmo,” he said as he ran a hand down Anti-Wanda’s cheek, ignoring the shudder it produced. “What would make you think I’d hurt your pwecious wittle wifey? It’s almost like you think I’m evil or something!” Anti-Binky laughed, and a chill actually ran up Anti-Cosmo’s spine.

“If you harm even a single hair on her head,” Anti-Cosmo growled through gritted teeth, “I’ll—“

“You’re not exactly in any position to threaten me, ‘old chap’,” Anti-Binky snapped as he quickly closed the distance between them. “In case you hadn’t noticed, YOU’RE not in charge anymore. You made it very clear where your loyalties were the second you chose HER over US!”

“Oh blah, blah, blah,” Jorgen suddenly cried, easily shaking the anti-fairies off his arms. “Betrayal, backstabbing and evil twins—BAH! This is just like that soap opera All My Biceps, which I don’t watch, but if I did I’d be missing it because it’s coming on soon, so I’d better get busy KICKING ALL OF YOUR ANTI-FAIRY BUTTS!”

The anti-fairies around him moved away quickly, fully aware of Jorgen’s famous temper. Even Anti-Jorgen—a perfect match for the Head Fairy’s size and strength—decided a quiet retreat was in order. Of course, the fact that Anti-Jorgen was about as tough as a dust bunny didn’t help matters much, either.

Anti-Binky, on the other hand, was more annoyed than anything. While not as smart as Anti-Cosmo, the new ‘leader’ of the anti-fairies could have technically been classified as an evil criminal mastermind, mostly because what he lacked in brains he more than made up for in downright mean-ness.

As Jorgen cracked his knuckles and generally got himself set for a good old fashioned head bashing, Anti-Binky’s mind was frantically working, turning over ideas, dirty tricks and underhanded moves. Although the anti-fairies had sheer number on their side, they, in all honesty, were still no match for an enraged Jorgen Von Strangle.

What Anti-Binky needed was an angle.

“I wouldn’t recommend getting too physical, muscle-head,” he said as he quickly moved near Wanda. “Or else we’ll start having some ‘fun’ with your little fairies.” Anti-Binky twisted his hand into Wanda’s hair and gave it a sharp tug, making her cry out.

“Wanda!” Tabby called as she wriggled in The-Anti-Tooth-Fairy’s grip.

“STOP IT!” Cosmo shouted, struggling against the two anti-fairies holding his arms. “Don’t touch her!”

Jorgen was less moved. “Oh big deal,” he said with a bored wave of his hand. “I blast those two all the time. Go ahead.”

Anti-Binky wasn’t expecting that answer. With an annoyed grunt, he released his handful of Wanda’s hair and quickly glanced over the crowd. His eyes fell on The-Anti-Tooth-Fairy, and a grin spread slowly across his lips.

“Well then how about the kid?” he asked, yanking Tabby towards him. “I’m assuming she’s a godkid. I’m willing to wager that your Rules would frown on a precious little godchild getting hurt in a situation like this. Right?”

Jorgen growled. “No,” he said through gritted teeth. “There’d be an aggravating amount of paperwork for that.”

Anti-Binky smiled. “I thought so,” he said, curling an arm tightly around a struggling Tabby. “So you just be a good flat head and behave yourself. Wouldn’t want the kid getting hurt, would we?”

He pulled his arm into a tighter curl, and Tabby jerked, her face twisted into a grimace of pain. Anti-Binky was holding her so that her back was against his chest, his arm crossed over her right shoulder, and his hand clutched tightly onto her left arm. Very tightly.

“OWW!” she whined, trying to twist herself into a more comfortable position. “That HURTS!”

“Let her go!” Wanda cried, whipping her body this way and that in order to loosen the hold on her arms.

Cosmo was mimicking his wife’s movements, his face turning red in with his efforts.

“Leave her alone!” he yelled, a split second before one of his captors planted a knee in his midsection, sending him to his knees coughing and gasping for air.

“NO!” Tabby cried, reaching for her godfather. Anti-Binky yanked her backwards a little harder than he anticipated, making her cry out in pain.

“Shut up you brat,” he muttered. “We’re not playing around here you kno—“

That was as far as he got, because at precisely that moment, a foot connected quite solidly with his lower back. He flew forward with a startled “Ugh!”, losing most of his grip on Tabby, but not entirely letting go.

“What the . . .”

Anti-Binky regained his footing and turned quickly, coming face to face with a very angry Anti-Wanda.

“You’re a coward,” she almost growled, her pink eyes narrowed to thin slits.

Anti-Binky uttered a short laugh, scarcely believing he had heard correctly.

“What did you just say to me?” He suddenly became aware of how quiet the room had gotten.

“I may be simple, but I’m not deaf,” she said, losing some of her accent in her anger. “I was in here for a lot of years before my husband broke me out, and in that time, I heard the rumors. I heard what you were telling everyone. That it was somehow MY fault that Anti-Cosmo was changing. That he wasn’t a fit leader for the anti-fairies anymore. Well maybe, maybe not, but you know what? Anti-Cosmo is a heck of a lot smarter than you’ll ever be. HE never had to bully the other anti-fairies into carrying out his plans. HE never threatened ANYONE, especially not a child, to get his plans to work. HE is a genius. YOU are just a mean bully.”

Silence permeated the room as everyone stared at Anti-Wanda. The usually meek anti-fairy had cut straight to the heart of the matter with a few simple words. Anti-Cosmo smiled at his wife, his heart swelling with pride. He had truly never heard her speak so plainly and intelligently, and with such confidence. It seemed as though he wasn’t the only anti-fairy having some personality changes.

And the thought that made the whole scene that much more satisfying, was the fact that she was absolutely right.

Anti-Binky was less impressed with Anti-Wanda’s sudden grasp of psychological insight. Shocked and slightly confused would be a more appropriate description for his current state of mind. He stared at her, mouth hanging slightly agape, trying to decide if he had actually heard what he thought he did, or if he had somehow imagined it. Although, why he would imagine her—or anyone for that matter—saying something like that never really occurred to him, either.

“What did you . . .”

“Actually, I was wrong,” Anti-Wanda continued, her face pulled into a slight grimace of distaste. “You’re not just a mean bully. You’re a coward too. A coward who hides behind a little girl when things start going south.”

The silence that had settled in the room trembled as a soft sigh traveled through the group of anti-fairies, and it was this sound that suddenly snapped Anti-Binky out of his state of shock. Anti-Wanda’s words were sinking in, making them think. If left to think about it for too long, they might decide she was right and turn their backs on him, sending him back to the life of obscurity he endured when Anti-Cosmo was still in charge.

He’d be a nobody again, all because of a sudden burst of intelligence from this usually brainless anti-fairy.

And that just wouldn’t do.

“ _ **SHUT UP!!!”**_ he bellowed, and slapped her across the face. Hard. Really hard. Hard enough to make her head roll on her neck and buckle her knees. Had two other anti-fairies not still been holding her arms, she would have fallen to the floor.

It was about this time that, quite frankly, all hell broke loose. That slap was like a starting pistol, and everyone acted on it.  


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So. Things are starting to really get interesting now.

“ _ **NOO!!**_ Anti-Cosmo screamed, freeing himself with one forceful lunge of his body. He went straight for Anti-Binky, who raised his arm again, presumably for another attack. But before he could even pick a target for his new blow, Tabby provided an adequately attention grabbing distraction.

“NO HITTING YOU BIG JERK!” she yelled before clamping her teeth onto his arm. Her jaw would remain sore for the following three days from the force of her bite, but she decided that his scream alone was more than worth the pain.

And scream Anti-Binky did. The little girl’s teeth felt like a bear trap on his arm, and he turned slightly in order to bring his raised arm down on her head in the hopes of getting her off. Before he had a chance to do more than think about it, however, Anti-Cosmo was there, his hand an iron shackle on the wrist of Anti-Binky’s still raised arm.

“Thank you, Tabitha,” he said almost pleasantly to the little girl, his eyes boring into Anti-Binky’s. “That was most helpful.”

The bear trap suddenly let go as the little girl moved nearer Anti-Cosmo, a wide smile on her face.

“You’re welcome Uncle Acie!” she chirped as she hurried toward the two anti-fairies holding Anti-Wanda. “Punch him in the head for hurting Auntie!”

Anti-Cosmo chuckled as he leaned closer to Anti-Binky, offering his rival a toothy grin.

“Sounds like a marvelous place to start.”

As Anti-Binky began to rethink his position as anti-fairy leader, Cosmo took advantage of the mounting chaos to display remarkable ingenuity in breaking free of his captors.

He was still doubled over from the blow to his belly, and suddenly shifted his weight to collide with the anti-fairy on his right. The move caught the dark fairy off guard, and he fell over, releasing Cosmo’s arm in the process. The sudden movement yanked the anti-fairy on his left arm practically on top of him, but Cosmo was ready and caught the startled guard with a stiff punch to the chest. A second later, he wriggled out from beneath the coughing anti-fairy and headed towards his wife.

Wanda, meanwhile, was vainly whipping her body in quick jerks to shake herself loose from her own anti-fairy guards. Unfortunately, for each twist, turn, and jerk, her captors’ grips became ever tighter. Just as the pressure on her arms became painful, her body jerked violently to the right when Cosmo, moving at a full run, slammed into one of the anti-fairies holding her. The guard released her arm as he and Cosmo tumbled to the ground, legs and arms flailing. Wanda took the opportunity to hook her foot behind the remaining anti-fairy’s leg and send him sprawling to the ground with a startled “Oh!”

Two anti-fairies went flying past—head over heels—and she turned quickly to see Jorgen walking toward her at a leisurely pace.

“We will need to talk about what you two thought you were doing later,” the Head Fairy said, massaging his mighty fists. Binky cowered behind him, keeping watch as the rest of the anti-fairies decided between running, surrendering, and fighting. Some stood stock still, watching the fight between Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Binky with mounting interest, while others timidly moved toward the fairies.

“Where’s Tabby?” Wanda called over the building noise, and was answered by a high-pitched scream.

“Get ‘er off, GET ‘ER OFF!!!” one of Anti-Wanda’s guards hollered as he hopped around, waving his arms wildly. He turned around and Wanda saw the reason for his dance—Tabby had her arms and legs wrapped tightly around his leg, her teeth clamped onto his shin.

Anti-Wanda used the distraction to her advantage and shoved her shoulder into her remaining guard’s chest, knocking him hard onto his back. She then pried Tabby off the hopping anti-fairy’s leg and half dragged, half carried her over to the group of fairies.

“Well this sure turned into a big ol’ mess,” she said as she gently placed Tabby on her feet in front of Wanda. “Whadda we do now?”

“We must recapture all the anti-fairies,” Jorgen answered as he backhanded an approaching anti-fairy. “They must not be allowed to escape.”

“But we don’t have any magic, or our wands!” Cosmo cried, throwing his arms wide. “The prison has a spell on it that blocks it!”

Wanda frowned. “No magic? But . . .” she started as she glanced around the prison.

A soft reflection caught her eye and she turned, ducking as an anti-fairy lunged for her. Jorgen flicked him away as though he were swatting a fly.

One of the cell doors caught the light from a high window and threw a reflection onto the floor. A blue reflection. Wanda gasped.

The blue full moon had risen. They had access to magic after all.

“I have an idea!” she cried as she grabbed Tabby’s hand and ran toward the moonlight. The others exchanged a questioning glance before following her. “If we can get Tabby to the—OOF!”

They were halfway to the pool of light when an anti-fairy broadsided Wanda, knocking the wind out of her and rolling her to the ground. Tabby went down too, and rolled out of the heart of the mob that quickly swarmed over the group.

“Wanda!” the little girl cried and tried to quickly crawl back to her godmother.

“Tabby, stay away!” the pink haired fairy called as her attacker landed heavily on top of her.

“What have you done to my darling boy?” Anti-Mama-Cosma sneered as she wrapped her hands around Wanda’s neck. “He used to be so evil, but now he’s turned his back on all of us!”

“. . . I . . . did-didn’t . . .” Wanda managed to squeak out as her windpipe closed.

Her attacker laughed. “No, of course you didn’t!” she said merrily, her hands curling ever tighter. “It was that twit of a wife of his! You were both in this together—AAHHHHH!”

Air suddenly streamed down Wanda’s throat as the hands vanished, and she looked up in time to see Anti-Wanda yanking her mother-in-law back by the hair.

“I never liked you,” Anti-Wanda said as she gave the older woman a strong shove. Anti-Mama-Cosma landed hard on her side and uttered a sharp cry before turning and hissing at her daughter-in-law.

“You stole my precious son from me!” she cried, suddenly launching herself at Anti-Wanda. The movement caught the younger anti-fairy off guard, and they both tumbled to the floor with a heavy ‘thump’.

“Your fault!” Anti-Mama-Cosma screamed as the two fought. “It’s YOUR fault my evil little boy is so different!”

“SHADDAP!” Anti-Wanda screamed back, rolling back and forth to try and gain an advantage on her heavier mother-in-law.

Wanda moved forward to try and help her dark counterpart, but was tackled from behind by Anti-Juandissimo.

“Oh, you brightly colored counterpart of my beloved dark princess Anti-Wanda!” he wailed, his arms wrapped tightly around Wanda’s middle. “Tell me I am pretty! And sexy! Please! I am nothing without my darling Anti-Wanda!!!”

“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder,” the pink haired fairy muttered as she struggled in his grip. “GET OFF!!”

“Wanda!” Tabby called again, moving toward her godmother. Wanda arched her body and rolled with all her strength in order to face her goddaughter.

“Tabby, get to the light!” she cried as loud as her constricted lungs would allow her. The anti version of her ex-boyfriend clung tightly to her midsection, his pleas for attention almost drowning out her own voice. “Get to the light!”

“Light?” Tabby asked, crawling closer. “What light?”

Wanda rolled one more time and bucked her anti-ex-boyfriend off before sucking in a lungful of air.

“The moonlight, Tabby,” she cried as she pointed toward the reflection on the floor before Anti-Juandissimo grabbed her again. “GO STAND IN THE MOONLIGHT!” A second later, Wanda was practically dragged into the writhing mob of angry anti-fairies.

Tabby stood stock still for a second longer, torn between running in after Wanda and simply sitting on the floor and crying. She was extremely confused, and couldn’t understand why her godmother seemed so insistent about standing in some patch of moonlight. What on earth would that do?

A sudden, pain-filled cry erupted from the dogpile of anti-fairies, and Tabby instantly recognized it as her godfather. Her paralysis broke and she sprinted toward the moonlight Wanda had pointed her towards.

“Oh no you don’t!” Anti-Cupid said as he assumed a defensive stance in front of the reflection on the floor.

Tabby frowned and lowered her head, hitting the anti-love-god full force in the belly. He uttered a surprised “GAH!” before they both went sprawling, with Tabby’s momentum making them slide for a good five feet.

Once untangled from her would-be goalie, the little girl scrambled into a fast-paced crawl, finally throwing herself into the puddle of moonlight on the floor.

A bright flash suddenly erupted at that moment, bringing all movement inside the prison to a startled stop. Tabby shakily got to her feet, and looked around at the staring faces surrounding her. A soft blue light illuminated everything around her, and she looked down at herself, uttering a soft gasp at what she found.

She was glowing. The blue light came from her.

“Mama?” she called in a small voice, not quite sure whether she should be scared or not. It was a little unsettling—humans weren’t generally supposed to glow, after all—but not exactly scary. “What do I do now?”

“Make a wish, sweetie,” Wanda said as she maneuvered her way out of the crowd.

Her goddaughter shook her head. “But magic doesn’t work in here,” she said, pointing toward Jorgen. “He said so.”

Wanda shook her head as she moved closer to the little girl. “This is special magic, sweetie. You can make a wish now. Anything you want.”

“Yes, anything you want,” Jorgen said as he pushed his way to the edge of the crowd. “As long as that means you’ll wish the anti-fairies back into their cells. DO IT NOW!!”

“NO!” Anti-Binky shouted as he hurried toward the other anti-fairies and away from Anti-Cosmo—who had been a tougher opponent than Anti-Binky originally thought. “Wish us free! You wouldn’t want Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda put back into the jail, would you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Anti-Cosmo said as his wife hurried to his side. They immediately clasped hands and stood close together, small smiles on each of their faces. “We’ll be okay, Tabitha. Wish us all back into the cells before any more trouble starts.”

Anti-Binky growled. “NO! WISH US FREE!”

“PUT THEM BACK!” Jorgen boomed, shoving anti-fairies out of the way as he moved closer to Tabby.

“FREEDOM!!”

The prison walls reverberated with the cry, and suddenly everyone shouted suggestions, orders, insults, and arguments. The noise escalated into a great ear-ringing din. Tabby clapped her hands over her ears and screamed at the top of her voice:

“ _ **SHUT UUUUP!”**_

Amazingly, the noise did taper off, as all eyes turned back to the glowing little girl in the moonlight.

“Boy you’re all so noisy!” she sighed as she lowered her hands. “Sheesh!” The little girl turned to Wanda as a sudden thought occurred to her. “Cosmo! Where’s Cosmo??”

A low moan answered her, muffled by the group of anti-fairies.

“Let him out!” she ordered, pointing towards the group at the edge of the mob. A few flinched from her extended finger, as though expecting some sort of lightning bolt or some other such powerful expression of mystical magic to shoot out from it.

“ **NOW!”**

If the pointing finger didn’t goose the anti-fairies into movement, the sharp tone of an angry little girl in possession of what could very well be a very powerful magic did. The crowd parted straight down the middle, revealing a crumpled and moaning green haired fairy.

“Cosmo!” Wanda gasped and rushed to her husband’s side. She knelt beside him, gently taking his hand into hers. “Are you all right, sweetie?”

Cosmo smiled, blinking at her through a slowly healing black eye.

“Aw, you worry too much, babe,” he said with a laugh that ended in a soft moan. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. You know that.”

“That remains to be seen,” Anti-Binky snickered as he motioned for his underlings to surround the reunited fairies. The little anti-fairy knew opportunity when he saw it. And he had found his new angle.

“Let them out!” Tabby yelled, her hands curled into tight fists. “LET ‘EM GO!”

Anti-Binky offered her a sly smile.

“But darling little . . . Tabby, is it? That’s all I want. I want you to let all the anti-fairies go.”

Tabby shook her head, frowning deeply. “NO! You’re all BAD!”

“What about those two?” Anti-Binky asked, pointing behind the little girl at Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda. “They’re anti-fairies. Are THEY bad?”

“No, they’re different,” came the immediate answer.

Anti-Binky nodded and smiled again in a manner that even the little girl identified as unnerving.

“Of course they are,” he muttered before flashing the biggest, widest smile possible at her. “But so am I! If you let us all out, I promise that we won’t do anything wrong. Scout’s honor!” He crossed his chest with a big ‘x’ and held up his right hand, the first two fingers extended.

Tabby frowned, her brow furrowing deeply. She, of course, didn’t believe him, mostly because she knew there was something about these anti-fairies that just screamed ‘bad’. It could have been their red eyes—which, in truth, were darn creepy in their own right—or it could have been the way they seemed to smile when they shouldn’t, like when they lied or did something mean. Her Uncle and Auntie hadn’t acted like that—that she could remember anyway, it had been a pretty emotional and confusing couple of days—and their eyes were the same colors as her godparents’. Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda just felt different from the rest of these dark fairies. There really was no better way to explain it.

“Ya gonna make a decision some time tonight, kid?” Anti-Binky snapped, his previous ‘good mood’ suddenly gone. “’Cause your godparents might not be too happy if you take much longer.” A few anti-fairies behind him began cracking their knuckles as if to drive the point home.

Tabby swallowed hard. They needed to go back into their prison cells. They were all bad, and couldn’t be allowed out where they might hurt someone. But she didn’t want her Auntie and Uncle to be locked up too. Jorgen didn’t seem to like ANY anti-fairies, so it was doubtful he’d let two go just because Tabby would ask. For that matter, the rest of the anti-fairies didn’t seem to like Anti-Wanda or Anti-Cosmo, so what would happen if they somehow got hold of those two?

The moon slowly moved higher in the sky, making the reflection Tabby stood in shrink by the second. Time was running out.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered before turning to face her godparents’ counterparts. “I don’t know what to do, Uncle Acie!”

“Wish all the anti-fairies back into the cells, little one,” he said softly as he and his wife moved closer to the little girl. “It’s the only way for this to end.”

Tabby shook her head. “But you’ll be trapped too!” she cried, grabbing their hands. “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

Anti-Wanda shook her head as she laid a gentle hand on Tabby’s cheek.

“We’ll be fine, sugar,” she said, offering a small smile. “You don’t want your godparents or anyone else to get hurt, do you?” Tabby shook her head. “Then that settles it! Make the wish, darlin’.”

“But—“

“Make the wish, Tabitha,” Anti-Cosmo said sternly as he pulled his wife back. “Time is passing quickly. Hurry!”

“C’mon kid!” Anti-Binky called, his voice edged with annoyance. “The clock’s tickin’!”

Tabby turned back to face the self-proclaimed new leader of the anti-fairies, her face set, her hands curled into tight fists. She regarded him with narrowed eyes, and her lips pulled into a thin line.

Wanda peeked through the forest of anti-fairy legs from her vantage point on the floor, and rolled her eyes.

“Oh lord,” she sighed, helping a now almost fully healed Cosmo into a sitting position.

“What?”

“She’s got that stubborn look again.”

Cosmo rolled his own eyes.

“Oh lord. What do you think she’ll do?”

“I don’t know,” Wanda replied as they both stood. “But I hope it’s nothing too—“

“ **I WISH WE WERE ALL OUTSIDE!!”** Tabby bellowed, the glow around her intensifying until it filled the room.

A split second later, every fairy and anti-fairy was standing outside the prison, much to the shock and surprise of the two fairy prison guards.

“ . . . rash,” Wanda finished with a sigh.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escape! Kind of. Time to wrap things up.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, the anti-fairies erupted in a very loud cheer.

“ **FREE!”** they cried as they threw their arms up happily, relishing the fresh night air and open space of the outside. _**“WE’RE FREE!”**_

“Tabby, what have you done?!” Wanda cried as she and Cosmo ran to their goddaughter. “Why in the world would you make a wish like that??”

“LITTLE GIRL, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR GODPARENTS FOR THIS!!” Jorgen boomed as he stomped closer, Binky following closely at his superior’s heels.

“How come they’re not flying away?” Tabby suddenly asked as she pointed to the still grounded anti-fairies. The startled Head Fairy paused for a second before answering.

“Those red suits they are wearing prevent them from flying or performing any magic.”

“So magic works out here, right?”

Jorgen nodded. “Yes, it does.”

“So they can’t fly, or do magic out here, but you can?”

Another nod from the large fairy. “Yes.”

“Then I wish Jorgen had his wand,” she said to her equally startled godparents, who began to raise their arms before remembering their wands were still tucked in Anti-Binky’s belt.

“Having access to our magic again does no good if we don’t have any wands to—“ Wanda began just as a wand appeared in her hand. Cosmo found one in his just as Binky uttered a surprised “OH!” when his reappeared as well. “What the . . .?”

“As my wife so cleverly pointed out,” Anti-Cosmo said as he and Anti-Wanda approached the group, the glow of his wand slowly dimming. “Anti-Binky is no genius. I merely relieved him of the stolen wands when we had our scuffle in the prison. The fool never even noticed their disappearance.”

“Ain’t he smart?” his wife asked before planting a tender kiss on his cheek. Anti-Cosmo smiled and returned the kiss, just as Wanda and Cosmo raised their wands to grant Tabby’s wish.

“You can catch them, right?” Tabby asked as Jorgen’s mighty wand appeared in his curled fist.

The Head Fairy smiled.

“It will be like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said as he turned and faced the still rejoicing anti-fairies. “Only without the barrel. And with anti-fairies instead of fish. And with much more PAIN!” Jorgen raised his large wand and shot the sky above them, creating thick, dark clouds.

A mighty thunderclap exploded overhead and the anti-fairies quieted, looking nervously at the building storm. Their attention was so focused on the sky that they never heard the large Head Fairy as he approached from behind.

“So many anti-bones,” he said with a smile, his voice low. “So little time.”

A collective gasp rose from the huddled group of anti-fairies, which was quickly followed by a collective scream. Then the ‘collective’ part of the group shattered as anti-fairies ran in every direction, trying to avoid the business end of Jorgen’s wand.

“Ha HA!” the mighty fairy laughed as he shot anti-fairy after anti-fairy, trapping them in individual nets. “Who is laughing NOW, puny anti-fairies? BINKY! Keep track of them!”

“Yessir!” the little bald fairy chirped as he conjured a clipboard and began checking off names.

“YOU TWO!” Jorgen barked at the still confused fairy guards. “Keep them from scattering!” The two fairies at the front gate jumped, and tossed their boss a stiff salute before hurrying toward the panicked crowd.

One by one the anti-fairies dropped, trapped in a small mesh net, and Binky’s hand moved frantically to check off the names of the captured ones. The prison guards flanked Jorgen, and the three of them formed a rough triangle around the ever-shrinking group of anti-fairies, their wands moving almost constantly.

A short distance away stood two more anti-fairies and their fairy counterparts. They watched the scene silently, the screams of the captured anti-fairies ringing in their ears.

Cosmo moved closer to his wife, and took her hand gently. The cries of the anti-fairies were full of fear and sorrow, and they unnerved the little green haired fairy.

Wanda, while happy the trouble-making anti-fairies were being contained once again, couldn’t help but feel a tiny pang of regret. Dealing with Anti-Cosmo—and Anti-Wanda, although to a somewhat lesser extent—had shown her that anti-fairies WERE capable of actual feelings, sometimes of the positive variety. It seemed almost cruel to lock them away again, when all they truly wanted was to be free.

But, then again, they hadn’t exactly behaved in an overly friendly or apathetic manner in the prison, either. Under the influence of certain leadership, the anti-fairies could be darn dangerous. There was no sense letting them all out simply because two had acted in a more ‘fairy-like’ manner.

Wanda glanced over at the aforementioned two and the pang in her heart multiplied. Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda were watching the recapture of their brethren, their hands intertwined. A sorrow haunted their eyes that Wanda thought might have as much to do with their own situation as it did with that of their former comrades.

Turning your backs on your own kind was never an easy—or in all honesty, smart—thing to do, yet they had. They were traitors and they knew it.

“Well,” the pink haired fairy said softly after another agonizing few seconds of silence. “I think you guys had better get out of here before Jorgen comes looking for you.”

Anti-Cosmo smiled, curling an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Of course, you’re right,” he said, casting one more quick glance at the shrinking crowd. “We thank you for all you’ve done.”

Anti-Wanda nodded. “Yeah, it was really nice of you to help us after . . . well, you know,” she said, her cheeks darkening as a blush surfaced.

Cosmo smiled. “Yeah, we know,” he said, looking straight at his double. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

Anti-Cosmo laughed. “You have my word. No hard feelings?” he asked as he offered his hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Cosmo took it and gave it a firm shake.

“Nah, it’s okay.”

Wanda nodded. “It was incredibly . . . ‘frustrating’ in the beginning, but I think it all turned out okay in the end,” she said with a slight shrug. “Besides, you didn’t hurt Tabby, and she seems to like you so . . .” She stopped, looking around with mounting panic. “Where IS Tabby?”

“She was right here!” Cosmo cried as he spun around, searching the area. “She wouldn’t wander off, would she?”

Wanda shook her head as she continued to scan the area. “Unlikely. We’ve gotta find her!”

“It will go quicker if we split up,” Anti-Cosmo said, drawing a confused look from Wanda.

“’We’? But aren’t you going to leave while you can?”

The dark fairy offered her a half smile.

“The sooner we find her, the sooner we’ll leave,” he said with a wink. “You go that way, we’ll go this.”

The fairies nodded and sped off in their assigned direction.

“C’mon sweetie,” Anti-Wanda said as she hurried in the other direction. “We gotta find the little sugar!”

“In a moment, darling,” her husband said, pulling her to a halt. “First let’s get that horrid suit off you.” His wand flashed and her red suit disappeared, replaced with her normal attire. “Much better. Now you need your wand.” Another flash and Anti-Wanda’s wand was seated comfortably in her hand. “There. A vision of beauty!”

“But sweetie,” his wife said as she became airborne. “Shouldn’t we be looking for Tabby?”

Anti-Cosmo waved a dismissive hand as he cupped her cheek with the other.

“Why rush when I already know where she is?”

“You do?” Anti-Cosmo nodded. “Well then, why didn’t you tell them?”

“Because, my darling wife,” he said as he lead her towards the back of the prison. “There are some things that must be dealt with in certain ways. And there are some situations that only certain people are capable of dealing with.”

They reached the back corner of the prison, and Anti-Cosmo pulled his wife near the wall. They peeked around the corner and found Tabby, struggling fiercely in the arms of Anti-Binky.

“And there are some issues that still require resolution,” he whispered before placing a loving kiss on her cheek. “Stay here. When he releases the girl, I will poof her next to you. And please darling, do not interfere, under any circumstances. This is something I must do.”

“What are you . . .” Anti-Wanda started, but could go no further because her husband had zipped around the corner.

“You,” Anti-Binky practically spat once he saw his rival. “Come to turn me in, traitor?”

Anti-Cosmo laughed good-naturedly. “I see my little ruse was successful,” he snickered. “I’m quite the convincing thespian when I choose to be.”

“What are you talking about?” Anti-Binky snapped as he roughly yanked the struggling child in his arms to the left. “Do you expect me to believe that all this was just some act?”

Anti-Cosmo sighed, shaking his head slightly. “What I expected to happen is precisely what has happened, my dear Anti-Binky. It has all gone according to my master plan, which worked out—quite frankly—much better than I could have ever hoped. For here we are.”

The other anti-fairy offered him a confused look.

“And where would that be, exactly?”

“At the dawn of a new age for anti-fairies,” Anti-Cosmo said with a sly smile. “The purpose of this entire ordeal was to find someone to help me lead our people. I’ve been away from leadership for so long, I confess I’m a might out of touch with things. I needed someone who has gone through what the rest of them have, someone who could assume leadership if the opportunity presented itself. Someone like you.”

Anti-Binky was silent for a long moment, and Anti-Cosmo fought the urge to ask of he needed it explained in smaller words.

“You’re not making any sense,” Anti-Binky said, quickly yanking his arm out of the reach of Tabby’s snapping teeth. “Not this time you little brat.”

“Perhaps you’d have an easier time understanding if you weren’t so preoccupied,” Anti-Cosmo offered, floating slightly closer. “Release the girl. She has played her part and is no longer required.”

Anti-Binky uttered a sharp laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“We will never be able to evade capture with her. Release her now and we can escape before the fairies even notice our absence.”

“’We’?” Anti-Binky asked, an eyebrow raised. “Are you seriously suggesting that you and I escape together?”

Anti-Cosmo sighed heavily. “I thought that was painfully clear.”

“What about her?”

“Sadly, my wife has already been recaptured,” Anti-Cosmo said, placing a hand on his chest for added effect.

Anti-Binky laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me, actually,” he snickered. “The ‘slow’ ones usually are the first to be captured.”

“Yes, well,” Anti-Cosmo said through gritted teeth. “At any rate, our time is passing quickly. We must hurry if we are to escape without notice.”

Anti-Binky studied his one-time rival and possible new refugee-buddy with narrowed eyes. Anti-Cosmo was a smooth one, always quick with a lie or scheme to get what he wanted. But why go through such a song-and-dance if all he wanted was the kid? He had his wand, all he had to do was poof her away. It was quick, it was simple, and it was easier than trying to buffalo someone.

And, admittedly, what Anti-Cosmo said did make sense. Maybe the whole reason he had been acting so strange is because of his separation from the rest of the anti-fairies. People do tend to behave strangely when they’re all alone.

“So, lemme get this straight,” Anti-Binky said, shaking his head slightly. “You planned everything that happened? And it was all an attempt to find a second-in-command, so to speak?”

“My dear Anti-Binky,” Anti-Cosmo said with a slight laugh. “It is virtually impossible to plan everything, but yes, I theorized a good portion of it.”

A silent moment passed between them, the only sounds being the struggles of the little girl.

“I don’t trust you,” Anti-Binky finally said quietly as he reluctantly released his hostage. “But I believe you.”

“Excellent!” Anti-Cosmo cried as he poofed Tabby away. “Let’s be off, then!”

“Get me out of this stinkin’ suit first,” Anti-Binky said, yanking at the stretchy red fabric.

“In due time, in due time,” Anti-Cosmo said as he raised his wand. “We must be off before we are spotted.”

Anti-Cosmo’s wand flashed, and he, Anti-Binky, Anti-Wanda and Tabby all disappeared.

_**-X-X-X-** _

“Binky, is that all of them?” Jorgen asked as the sky cleared. Before him were dozens of large mesh bags, each filled with individually wrapped anti-fairies.

“Well, let’s see,” the little bald fairy answered as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard. “Looks like . . . uh . . .”

“DON’T MUMBLE!”

“Yessir! I mean, no sir! I mean . . .” Binky quickly flipped through the pages again, or at least as quickly as his trembling hands would allow. “It looks like we’ve got everyone except for Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, and Anti-Binky.”

“BLAST!” Jorgen bellowed and did just that to the bag of captured anti-fairies in front of him. “Now we will have to find them again!”

“Can we start with a little girl?” Cosmo asked as he and Wanda slowly floated up to their superior. “We kinda lost ours.”

“Oh for the love of someone I do not know named Pete,” Jorgen muttered as he rubbed his eyes with his muscular thumb and forefinger. “You two should put a leash on that kid. Seriously. Think about it.”

Before Cosmo or Wanda could respond, a loud poof sounded behind them, and Tabby and Anti-Wanda appeared. Next to them was a very confused Anti-Binky securely restrained in the strong grip of Anti-Cosmo.

“Wha . . .?” Anti-Binky squeaked, and Wanda thought he took the word right out of her mouth.

“Before I hand you over to our friend Mr. Von Strangle, I have a few things to say to you,” Anti-Cosmo whispered to his captive. “Number one, you seem to have forgotten that I am an evil genius, and as such, am completely capable of making anyone believe anything I wish them to. This was your first mistake. Your second mistake, of course, was thinking you could outsmart me in any way shape or form. It’s quite impossible, I assure you.”

He glanced to his left, and met the gaze of his loving wife, bringing a smile to his lips.

“Lastly, it was your own actions that have condemned you. I may have let you go had you not slapped my beautiful wife.”

With that, Anti-Cosmo pushed Anti-Binky toward Jorgen, who wasted no time in encasing him within a small mesh net.

“Traitor!” Anti-Binky cried as a guard picked him up. “I’ll get out someday and make you pay for what you’ve done! You and your little wife, too! TRAITORS!!”

His screams were muffled as he was tossed into the larger bag, on top of his fellow anti-fairies.

“And now for the last two,” Jorgen said as he leveled his large wand at Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda. The couple clasped hands and lowered their heads, ready for their capture.

“WAIT!” Wanda cried as she, Tabby and Cosmo leapt between the anti-fairies and the tip of Jorgen’s wand.

“Eh? Move aside puny fairies! I shall deal with you later!”

“You don’t have to capture them! They won’t cause any trouble, I’m sure of it!”

“Do you not remember that THEY are the ones who started this whole mess?” Jorgen asked, pointing between the fairies. “They kidnapped your godchild!”

“But they didn’t hurt her!” Cosmo added, and Wanda nodded beside him. “AND they brought you Anti-Binky too. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Not really,” the Head Fairy shrugged. “Anti-fairies are not known for their loyalty. Or their honesty. Now STAND ASIDE!”

Jorgen reached forward and shoved the fairies and child out of the way, just as a slightly acrid smell assaulted his nostrils. A puff of dark smoke slowly dissipated from the spot Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda had occupied only a second before.

“THEY ARE GONE!” he bellowed, before turning and blasting the closest bag of captured anti-fairies. “Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda have escaped!”

“Isn’t this where we came in?” Cosmo asked his wife, who shrugged slightly. Jorgen turned on the green haired fairy, zeroing his large wand in on Cosmo’s forehead.

“What was that??”

Cosmo, too terrified to speak, simply offered his commander a crooked smile.

“He’s right,” Wanda said, her arms crossed. “Those two particular anti-fairies were on the loose when we first came to see you after Tabby was taken. Seems to me that you’re not exactly any worse off than when we started. The only difference is we’ve got Tabby back.”

The next minute comprised of Jorgen making little huffing and puffing noises, the vein on his forehead giving the one on his neck a run for its money. They were right, and he knew it. Things had resolved themselves, for the most part, and there seemed to be nothing wrong that wasn’t wrong to begin with—ie, Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda’s frustrating ‘un-captured’ status.

“That does not answer the question of just why you two helped Anti-Cosmo free his wife in the first place,” he said after some thorough thought. Cosmo and Wanda exchanged a quick glance.

“She wished for it,” they said in unison, pointing down at their goddaughter. The little girl in question blushed furiously before flashing the large fairy a wide smile.

“Ugh, kids,” Jorgen said with a roll of his eyes. He turned toward the two guards and slammed the foot of his wand against the ground. “Let’s get the Fail Safe reset and these prisoners back into their cells. NOW!”

The tip of Jorgen’s wand flashed, leaving Cosmo, Wanda and Tabby alone.

“We are never playing hide and seek again,” Wanda said, taking hold of Tabby’s hand.

Cosmo nodded. “Agreed.”

The pink haired fairy raised her wand and poofed the trio home.

_**~X~X~X~** _

_**Epilogue** _

“Uncle Acie! Auntie!” Tabby called happily as the anti-fairies poofed into her room a week later. The little girl sat at her craft table, coloring with her godparents.

“Hey Tabby,” Anti-Wanda called, offering the little girl a small wave. “How ya doin’ sugar?”

“Great!” she cried as she leapt up and ran to Anti-Wanda. “C’mon and color with us!” The little girl almost yanked the anti-fairy out of the air and dragged her toward the little table.

“Wanda, may I have a word please?” Anti-Cosmo asked as he motioned to the far side of the room. The pink haired fairy exchanged a glance with her husband, who shrugged before turning back to color with his goddaughter and wife’s dark duplicate.

“What’s on your mind, AC?” Wanda asked once they were out of earshot.

“I just wanted to thank you again for all you’ve done,” he said quietly, glancing periodically at his wife. “I sincerely appreciate your assistance and hope you didn’t get into too much trouble because of it.”

Wanda waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, don’t worry about that,” she said with a slight laugh. “Considering how much trouble a few of our past godchildren have caused, this was nothing!”

“It was by no means ‘nothing’, Wanda,” Anti-Cosmo said, his voice soft and serious. “This entire experience has made me face myself and the changes that have taken place within me. You three have helped me to accept those changes instead of wasting time resisting them. So again, I thank you.”

He bent into a deep bow, before taking Wanda’s hand and placing a soft kiss on the back. Her cheeks burning, the pink haired fairy offered an embarrassed smile.

“Y-you’re welcome, Anti-Cosmo,” she said, gently pulling her hand back. “Really. I was glad to help. So . . . what have you two been up to?”

Anti-Cosmo straightened and offered her a small shrug.

“Ah, just out causing a little bad luck,” he said as they floated back toward the table. “There are so many ways to summon an anti-fairy, and you’d be surprised how often they happen all over the world! A broken mirror here, a little spilled salt there, you know. Why, we’ve been so busy this past week, we’ve barely had time to think!”

“Not that I have that problem, mind ya,” Anti-Wanda chimed in as her husband and duplicate sat in freshly poofed chairs. “I let my sweetie do the thinkin’ for both of us! He’s got all the brains, ya know!”

“Yes, darling, but that’s simply because you have all the beauty,” he said with a smile.

Anti-Wanda smiled herself and primped her hair. “Yeah, I know. It’s tough being this beautiful, but we just have to manage somehow, right Wanda?”

The pink haired fairy laughed and primped her hair just like her counterpart.

“Yes, it’s a terrible burden, but we must struggle on!”

“Boy, it’s sure getting deep in here,” Cosmo said sarcastically. “We’ll need a shovel soon!” He laughed as a barrage of crayons rained down upon him.

“You’d better be nice,” Wanda said with a smirk. “I can make your life very difficult with a minimum of effort.”

Cosmo threw his hands up, still giggling. “All right, all right, I give,” he said, scooting closer to his wife. “You know I’m only kidding anyway, right beautiful?”

Wanda smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

“EW!” Tabby cried suddenly, drawing their attention. “No kissing! It’s gross! Only coloring at the table, no kissing!”

“What if we color people kissing?” Cosmo teased. “Is that allowed?”

“Nope,” came the immediate reply as Tabby’s crayon never wavered. “This is a No-Kissing Table. Coloring and drawing only.”

“Well then,” Anti-Cosmo said as he picked up a crayon. “You can’t argue with such iron clad logic. We’d best do as she says, darling, else we’ll be in genuine trouble.”

His wife giggled as she returned her attention to her own paper. “I guess so. We’d better get to colorin’ then!”

The rest of the evening consisted of coloring, drawing and laughs as they filled page after page of crayon drawings.

Later that night, once the anti-fairies had gone, Tabby was tucked in her bed, and Cosmo and Wanda were safely hidden away in the dollhouse, Tabby’s parents silently crept into her room to check on her.

“Hey Allie,” Tabby’s father whispered as he stood over the little craft table. “Come take a look at this.”

Allie tiptoed over and took the crayon-coated pages her husband offered her. “What are they? Pixies or something?”

“Could be,” Tom shrugged, flipping through a handful. “The ones with the pink and green hair seem to crop up a lot. What do you suppose it means?”

It was his wife’s turn to shrug. “Imaginary friends, maybe? There are a couple more in here that look almost exactly like those two, but with blue skin.”

“Huh, that’s kind of weird. Should we talk to someone about this?”

His wife shook her head as she stacked the pages back on the table.

“Nah, I think she’s just expressing her creativity and imagination,” she said as Tom returned his pages to the table. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. She seems like a perfectly normal six-year-old.”

Her husband nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he said as they headed toward the door. “She’s a good girl. Seems like most kids her age can be pretty bratty.”

“Yep,” his wife said as they pulled the door closed. “But you know what they say, ‘It takes great parents to make a great kid’.” There was a soft ‘click’ as the door closed behind them.

In the top window of the large Victorian dollhouse standing in the corner of Tabby’s room, two small faces peered out into the darkness. Each wore a wide smile and turned to face each other before kissing gently on the lips.

 


End file.
